Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reported a major cyberattack affecting $6.3 billion (£4.7bn) in digital assets, in what could be the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange confirmed that approximately half of the affected assets have been frozen with assistance from other platforms, while pledging to “cover all losses” arising from the incident.

Initial investigations suggest the attack may have originated from a compromised laptop belonging to one of the company’s engineers, potentially allowing hackers to carry out unauthorised withdrawals.

The incident has raised significant concerns over the security of cryptocurrency platforms, with two blockchain analytics firms linking the attack to a North Korean hacking operation.

TRM Labs and Chainalysis have both attributed the incident to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group believed to be responsible for previous attacks targeting the cryptocurrency industry.

According to TRM Labs, several elements of the Binance breach resemble earlier North Korean-linked operations, including the attack on cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in 2025.

That incident resulted in losses of approximately $1.5bn and was considered the largest cryptocurrency hack on record at the time.

The scale of the latest attack is considerably greater, although the amount of affected assets does not necessarily represent the total value successfully stolen.

Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy at TRM Labs, described the Binance incident to the BBC as an unprecedented development for the cryptocurrency sector.

He also indicated that the attacker continues to control a substantial quantity of stolen digital assets, meaning efforts to trace and recover the funds remain ongoing.

Meanwhile, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said it was highly confident that TraderTraitor was responsible for the attack.

Eric Jardine, Head of Research at Chainalysis, warned cryptocurrency exchanges to remain vigilant, highlighting the significant value of digital assets held by trading platforms and their attractiveness to cybercriminals.

Despite the assessments from both analytics firms, Binance has not independently confirmed the alleged North Korean connection.

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The company did not directly address questions from the BBC regarding the suspected involvement of North Korean hackers, but confirmed that it was cooperating with authorities investigating the incident.

“We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of these criminals and bring them to justice.”

The incident affects Binance.com, the company’s main global cryptocurrency exchange.

Binance.US, a smaller platform providing cryptocurrency trading services specifically to US residents, has confirmed that its operations have not been affected.

With billions of dollars in digital assets implicated and a substantial proportion of the funds still unaccounted for, the investigation and recovery efforts remain ongoing.