Binance's preliminary investigation points to a DevOps engineer's laptop as a possible entry point, allowing attackers to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. The exchange found no evidence of private key compromise and estimates total losses at about $6.3 billion, with roughly $3 billion already frozen on-chain. Binance said it will cover all losses through its SAFU fund and corporate capital, and expects to restore withdrawals within 45 hours while deposits remain unaffected.
Binance hackers moved stolen funds to same address as Bitget exploit, says ZachXBT
On-chain investigator ZachXBT found that stolen funds from Binance's $6.3 billion exploit and Bitget's $388 million exploit were funneled through THORChain and consolidated into the same address, suggesting a single actor. He attributes both attacks to TraderTraitor, a North Korea-linked group also connected to the Bybit and DMM Bitcoin breaches. Separately, an address now marked as a Binance exploiter transferred 74.56 million ARB tokens to a wallet tagged as the Kelp DAO Hacker, reinforcing the Lazarus Group link.
South Korea's FIU requests blocking of two unregistered exchanges as crackdown widens
South Korea's Digital Asset Exchange Joint Consultative Body reported Eizis Ventures, TetherMax, and SuperTrust for allegedly operating unregistered virtual asset businesses. The Financial Intelligence Unit requested domestic access blocks for TetherMax and SuperTrust, while Eizis Ventures was excluded because it lacked a standalone website or app. Violators face up to five years in prison or a 50 million won fine, and the action brings the number of unregistered operators referred to investigators to 47.
India's CoinDCX halts new futures positions citing Binance liquidity disruption
India's largest crypto exchange CoinDCX placed its futures market into reduce-only mode after the Binance security incident disrupted a key liquidity provider. Traders cannot open new positions or increase existing long/short exposure, though deposits and withdrawals remain normal and customer funds are safe. The exchange confirmed Binance as the affected liquidity provider but did not provide a timeline for restoring normal futures trading.
Upbit and Bithumb warn users against withdrawing to Binance, may restrict outflows
Two of South Korea's largest exchanges issued cautionary notices after Binance's security incident. Upbit warned users to exercise extra caution when withdrawing digital assets to Binance and said it may restrict such outflows to protect investors. Bithumb followed with a similar advisory, noting it is monitoring the situation and may limit withdrawals to Binance if necessary.
Pundi X Labs freezes 3.75 million PUNDIX tokens linked to Binance hack
Pundi X Labs froze 3,747,276 PUNDIX tokens worth about $365,513 after Binance contacted the project for assistance. The company said no other known hacker wallets hold affected PUNDIX and pledged continued support for the broader crypto ecosystem. The move shows how token issuers are cooperating with exchanges to contain the exploit's damage.
First Digital freezes stolen FDUSD as stablecoin issuers contain Binance exploit
First Digital CEO Vincent Chok confirmed the company has frozen FDUSD stolen in the Binance attack, joining Tether and Circle in stemming the flow of compromised stablecoins. Tether froze over $1.567 billion USDT while Circle froze about $823 million USDC, bringing total stablecoin freezes to roughly $2.39 billion. Chok emphasized that protecting FDUSD holders and preventing criminals from moving stolen funds are shared responsibilities across the industry.
OKX CEO Star calls for industry-wide security standards after Binance exploit
OKX founder and CEO Star urged crypto exchange leaders to stop treating security as a competitive battleground and instead build shared standards and a coordinated response mechanism. He noted that no system is absolutely secure and questioned whether Binance's incident stemmed from private key leakage or weaknesses in access control and wallet management. Star proposed that verified inter-exchange transfers process in real time, while large withdrawals to unknown addresses and smart contract permission grants face extra verification and security delays.
Ballet founder Bobby Lee: Stolen Bitcoin likely unrecoverable, but market has matured
Ballet wallet founder Bobby Lee told Bloomberg TV that Bitcoin stolen in the Binance hack is likely gone for good, while stablecoins have a realistic chance of recovery through freezes. He noted Bitcoin fell less than 1% to $78,269 during Friday's Asian trading session, arguing that crypto has matured enough to absorb losses of $1 billion, $2 billion, or even $5 billion without catastrophe. Lee stressed that freezing differs from recovery, and Binance must still formally claim frozen assets through law enforcement.
DeepSeek's $15.8B funding round draws Tencent, CATL and nearly 30 investors
Chinese AI firm DeepSeek's second funding round reached 105.5 billion yuan (about $15.8 billion) at a valuation of roughly 615.5 billion yuan, with nearly 30 investors participating. Tencent invested 10 billion yuan in both rounds, while CATL and its chairman Zeng Yuqun contributed 5 billion and 10 billion yuan respectively across the two rounds. State capital participation also rose significantly, with China's National AI Industry Investment Fund contributing another 10 billion yuan, matching its first-round commitment.
