Note that this is a developing story, so the tallies are subject to change. Should that amount be final, this heist would exceed the $1.5b stolen from Bybit in February 2025, of which only a paltry portion has so far been recovered. There's little info so far on the miscreant's means of larceny. Apparently, the Binance 14 , Binance 16 , and Hot Wallet 34 hot wallets, which hold pooled customer funds, were drained. It's currently not known if this happened via stolen private keys, a compromised signing process, or another type of intrusion.
Binance has assured users that their funds are safe, and most importantly, that it will cover all losses. For what it's worth, the company has a means of insurance and a reasonable track record in these situations, though the amount of bullion pilfered today is exorbitant.
The company created its SAFU reserve fund in 2018, where it deposits 10% of its trading fees to cover any losses incurred from security issues. That fund currently sits at 15,000 BTC in it (verifiable here ), or about $1.17b at the current BTC-USD price of $77,858. SAFU is a cold wallet, meaning its private keys are stored offline.
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Back in May 2019, thieves made out with 7,000 BTC from Binance, amounting to around $40 million at the time. The company covered the entirety of the losses with SAFU funds.
However, while $1.17b is certainly a tidy sum, 'tis but a morsel of what currently looks like a multi-billion loss. Binance co-founder, shareholder, and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) stated in a tweet that he too expects that users will be made whole.
As a final note, Binance is alerting everyone to be on the lookout for contact attempts impersonating the company and/or referencing the current situation. Expect a flood of emails, SMS, and phone scams in the coming months. Be especially wary of any "compensation" or "withdrawal restoration" offers, and never click any e-mail links or otherwise offer any account information — always use the official website or applications yourself directly.
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Bruno Ferreira Social Links Navigation Contributor Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals.
PEnns $5.6 billion in crypto?? This is where the magical, "untraceable" currency, beloved by launderers, ransomware creators and North Korea and huge assortment of scam artists, works against…… crypto! The irony. Reply
Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cryptocurrency/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cryptocurrency/binance-withdrawals-frozen-after-thieves-steal-usd5-6-billion-in-crypto-in-record-breaking-cryptocurrency-heist-firm-says-it-will-cover-losses-as-stablecoin-networks-move-to-freeze-usd2-4b-in-stolen-assets#main
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