Binance has suffered what is believed to be the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, with an estimated $6.3bn (£4.7bn) of digital assets affected, prompting fresh concerns about cyber security across the financial sector.

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange said its initial investigation suggested the breach may have originated from a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop. Blockchain intelligence firms have linked the attack, which reportedly took just 20 minutes, to North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor.

Around $3bn of affected assets have since been frozen, with Tether, Circle and Ripple among the companies helping to block funds. Binance has pledged to cover all customer losses through its Secure Asset Fund for Users and its own resources.

The incident surpasses the $1.5bn Bybit hack in 2025.

Nigel Green, CEO of financial advisory group deVere Group, said the attack signalled a new phase in the battle to protect wealth, with AI enabling criminals to operate at unprecedented speed.

“We’ve entered a new phase in protecting wealth. AI lets attackers plan and strike at machine speed, so the defences around money have to move just as fast, at exchanges, at banks and for anyone holding assets themselves,” he said.

Green also warned that financial firms could no longer treat cyber security as simply an IT spending issue, arguing that platforms holding billions in customer assets would face growing pressure to strengthen their defences.

“Crises like this tend to raise the bar for everyone. After this week, security will be the first question asked of every platform, and frankly it’s overdue,” he said.

The attack triggered a sell-off across digital assets, with Bitcoin falling more than 4% to below $78,000 as news of the breach emerged.

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