Binance Loses $6.3bn in Record Hack, Customers Pull Billions

Binance lost $6.3 billion to thieves on Thursday, a theft experts have described as the biggest heist in history and one likely carried out by North Korea. Three days on, customers have pulled a net $3.6 billion from the exchange and scammers are circling the wreckage.

Binance froze withdrawals to investigate the breach, then announced a phased reopening on Sunday. By Sunday afternoon the platform had processed $4.6 billion in withdrawals and $1 billion in deposits, a net outflow equal to 2.1% of its $171 billion in total assets under management. The company confirmed those figures in its latest proof of reserves snapshot, with a full report expected today.

What are scammers doing to Binance customers?

Founder Changpeng Zhao, universally known as CZ, warned that fraudsters are in "overdrive" and are targeting users trying to withdraw their money. Screenshots circulating online promise $150 in free compensation for the withdrawal suspensions. Binance confirmed the images are digitally altered and the information in them false.

"Please be aware that these screenshots are fake and the information in them is false," CZ wrote on X. "For accurate and up-to-date information, always refer to our official channels and announcements."

Co-founder Yi He said Binance's priority is to "ensure the environment is secure, after which users can withdraw their funds and Binance can resume operations." She rejected comparisons with collapsed rival FTX on X, arguing that fraudulent exchanges "abscond with the funds" with opaque ledgers and vanish without warning, while Binance is reopening withdrawals openly.

The exchange has now restored US dollar withdrawals, it confirmed on X, after euro, yen and some other fiat currencies came back online earlier. Further updates are expected today.

How hard did the hack hit Bitcoin markets?

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $643 million in net outflows on Friday, their first trading session after the hack, according to Nick Forster, chief executive of crypto platform Derive.xyz. No fund recorded inflows. BlackRock's IBIT shed $233.7 million, Fidelity's FBTC lost $201 million, ARKB $129.5 million, GBTC $53.3 million and BITB $25.7 million.

Panic hedging followed. In the first 12 hours after the hack, put options accounted for 68% of Bitcoin options premiums traded on Derive.xyz, up from 43% over the preceding five days. Daily Bitcoin options volume ran at roughly $55 million versus $34 million the day before.

"Traders have been moving quickly to protect themselves against further losses, with downside protection taking a much larger share of options activity," Forster said. Derive's market had priced a 75% chance of Bitcoin finishing above $80,000 at Friday's expiry; it settled at $77,786. The odds of Bitcoin hitting $100,000 by year-end have fallen from 6% last Wednesday to 3.5% — roughly one in 30.

Are regulators stepping in?

Yes, and quickly. South Korea's financial regulator held an emergency meeting on Monday to inspect local exchanges' cybersecurity, Reuters reported, and ordered immediate measures including constant transaction monitoring and response systems to detect and report irregular access attempts. It also told exchanges to raise their cold-wallet ratios and increase reserve deposits. In Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission will issue new guidance to the crypto industry within the last two months of the year, executive director for intermediaries Eric Yip said at Hong Kong's FinTech Week forum.

Chainalysis, the blockchain analytics firm, said on Friday it had also been targeted by a cyber attack, though it found no evidence of unauthorised access to "investigation content, authentication credentials, or session tokens." The firm said the incident is not related to the Binance theft.

What else is moving markets?

Brent crude slipped 2.6% to about $110 a barrel — trading at $108.65 — after Axios reported that US president Donald Trump told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu he wants to let negotiations with Iran play out before potentially launching strikes after Tuesday's midterm elections. Reuters reported Iranian negotiators left Doha talks on Sunday, though not due to difficulties in the negotiations.

UK manufacturing hit a five-month high in October, with the S&P Global purchasing managers' index rising to 52.8 from 51.9 in September. "Rates of growth in output and new orders both gathered pace in October, as companies responded to signs of improving demand in both domestic and overseas markets, including new work received from mainland China, the EU and the US," said Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. But hiring stalled after six months of increases, input prices rose at one of the sharpest rates in four years, and Dobson said the data "will further shorten the odds of interest rate hikes to come from the Bank of England." Business optimism nonetheless hit an eight-month high on plans for capital equipment and AI spending, including data centres.

Eurozone manufacturing also kept growing, with the PMI at 52.7 in October, down slightly from September's 52.9 — the best reading since May 2022. "The sustained growth recorded since February paints an encouraging picture of resilience for the manufacturing sector, which has been buffeted by the headwinds of tariffs and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. France slipped back into contraction at 49.5 from 50.6, and surging input-cost inflation adds pressure on the European Central Bank to hike rates, he added.

Ryanair said it expects jet-fuel costs to rise by around €2 billion in the financial year ending March 2028 as Middle East conflict keeps prices elevated into 2027. Europe's biggest low-cost carrier expects European fares to rise by as much as 20% and is reviewing all costs, including airport charges, "maturing labour agreements (which may require temporary pay freezes), lower crew ratios and increased use of AI," according to chief executive Michael O'Leary.

Alstom shares tanked 28% to €11.42 in Paris after the train maker cut its profit and cash flow forecasts for the second time since April, delayed a series of key German projects, and announced a €2 billion debt-reduction plan. The company has lost more than half its market value this year.

Whether Binance can stem the outflows — and whether today's full proof of reserves report reassures investors — will decide if the largest theft in crypto history becomes a liquidity crisis or a contained shock.