The Binance hack, October 2026https://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026On 29 October 2026 an attacker emptied Binance's hot wallets on ten blockchains in about four hours. Binance puts the impact at around $6.3 billion; three blockchain analytics firms count $6.36 billion to $6.43 billion, the largest crypto theft on record at the value when taken. About $3 billion has been frozen. Binance says it will cover every loss. The analytics firms blame North Korea's TraderTraitor group; Binance and the US government have not confirmed who did it.enFri, 30 Oct 2026 20:42:55 +0000Binance finds "additional points of breach"; withdrawals in 45 hourshttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-30T08:47:44ZFri, 30 Oct 2026 08:47:44 +0000“We are still on track towards the expected timeline to resume the withdrawal service in 45 hours.” Source: https://x.com/binance/status/2116089661408108712CEO Richard Teng: "your money is safe"https://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-30T07:37:53ZFri, 30 Oct 2026 07:37:53 +0000“Bottom line - your money is safe, and we're covering every loss.” Source: https://x.com/_RichardTeng/status/2116072080525656150Stolen funds meet funds from the Bitget hackhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-30T04:51:48ZFri, 30 Oct 2026 04:51:48 +0000“This indicates the same actor is likely behind both incidents.” Source: https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2116030284261179538Binance puts the impact at around $6.3 billionhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-30T02:23:22ZFri, 30 Oct 2026 02:23:22 +0000“The estimated total impact sits at around $6.3B.” Source: https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/detail/c5a8729a97ac486d963784d96c5642d7Last sweep of new depositshttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T23:56:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 23:56:00 +0000“As new funds reached the Binance hot wallet, the operator swept them again at 20:41, 20:59, 21:04, 21:44, 22:39 and 23:56 UTC.” Source: https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-usd-6-36-billion-from-binance-in-the-largest-hack-in-historyFrozen total passes $2.5 billionhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T23:35:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 23:35:00 +0000“Binance said at 23:35 UTC that the verified total frozen had reached USD 2.54 billion.” Source: https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-usd-6-36-billion-from-binance-in-the-largest-hack-in-historySecond wave: Avalanche and Polygonhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T23:05:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 23:05:00 +0000“About two and a half hours later, at 23:05 UTC, Binance wallets on Avalanche and Polygon followed.” Source: https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-usd-6-36-billion-from-binance-in-the-largest-hack-in-historyBinance's first statementhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T21:29:09ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 21:29:09 +0000“Our teams are aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating.” Source: https://x.com/binance/status/2115918888429133902Binance's co-founder: "It does look like a hack"https://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T21:15:23ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 21:15:23 +0000“It does look like a hack on Binance.” Source: https://x.com/cz_binance/status/2115915423174853077$2.53 billion leaves Ethereum in a single transactionhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T20:24:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 20:24:00 +0000“Two-thirds of the Ethereum losses, $2.53 billion, left in a single transaction at 20:24 UTC.” Source: https://www.elliptic.co/insights/binance-largest-hack-in-history/18,270 bitcoin leave in one transfer; 50 pre-signed authorizations hit Ethereumhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T20:20:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 20:20:00 +0000“At 20:20 UTC, a Binance Bitcoin hot wallet sent 18,270 BTC to an attacker address, which began splitting the funds into round 1,000 BTC and 100 BTC pieces inside the same block.” Source: https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-usd-6-36-billion-from-binance-in-the-largest-hack-in-historySolana and Optimism wallets followhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T20:10:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 20:10:00 +0000“Binance wallets on Solana and Optimism followed shortly after 20:10 UTC.” Source: https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-usd-6-36-billion-from-binance-in-the-largest-hack-in-historyFirst theft: 233 million XRPhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T20:05:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 20:05:00 +0000“Between 20:05 and 20:09 UTC, five Binance wallets sent 233.46 million XRP to a single attacker address, leaving each wallet with only its minimum balance.” Source: https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-usd-6-36-billion-from-binance-in-the-largest-hack-in-historyThe attacker deploys the contract it will use, four hours aheadhttps://venkatapagadala.com/notebook/events/binance-hack-2026#what-happenedbinance-hack-2026:2026-10-29T15:59:00ZThu, 29 Oct 2026 15:59:00 +0000“At 15:59 UTC on 29 October, the attacker deployed the "sweeper" contract used in the attack, which was rehearsed on another wallet around four hours before it was used against Binance.” Source: https://www.elliptic.co/insights/binance-largest-hack-in-history/