The biggest crypto theft on record took about 20 minutes. Starting at 20:05 UTC on 29 October (1:35 AM IST on 30 October), an attacker moved roughly $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets on ten blockchains, according to TRM Labs. That is about four times the $1.5 billion Bybit hack of February 2025. TRM and Chainalysis both attribute it to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group.
For the many Indians who use Binance, the question is simpler than the forensics: is my balance real, and when can I move it?
What Binance has promised
In its security incident update, Binance said it will cover all losses from its SAFU emergency fund and company funds, that user funds are safe, and that deposits keep working. Withdrawals are suspended while security checks run.
On 30 October co-CEO Richard Teng went further. He said Binance has reserved more than $6.34 billion of company money, $5 billion of it already held in the exact tokens taken (USDC, USDT, BTC, ETH and BNB), and is buying the rest, Decrypt reported. He said the breach hit Binance’s own hot wallet, while most customer assets sit in cold wallets. The targets: withdrawals back by Sunday, within about 40 hours, and a full proof of reserves by Monday, per CoinDesk.
Two details deserve caution. Binance first blamed one compromised engineer’s laptop, then said it found “additional points of breach” and does not yet know the full sequence. And TRM estimates the attacker still holds more than 420,000 ETH and 18,270 BTC, about $2.4 billion beyond any issuer’s freeze. Roughly $2.7 billion has been frozen so far.
Binance vs WazirX: why this is different for Indians
Indian users remember the last big exchange hack. Here is how the two compare on what users were told.
| WazirX, July 2024 | Binance, October 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount stolen | About $230 million | About $6.36 billion |
| In rupees (at USD/INR 94.95) | About ₹2,184 crore | About ₹60,388 crore |
| Who absorbs it | Users, through a restructuring | Binance says its own funds |
| What users got back | About 85% (CoinDesk) | Promised 100%, not yet tested |
| Withdrawals | Frozen for months | Target: restart by Sunday |
The hack is about 27 times larger, yet the promise to users is better. The difference is the balance sheet: Teng says Binance can absorb it because it keeps much of its operating earnings in crypto. WazirX could not, so its users shared the loss. A promise is not a payout, though, which is why Monday matters.
What it means for Indian investors
- Don’t panic-sell inside the app. Selling on Binance turns your coins into stablecoins on the same exchange; it does not get money out while withdrawals are paused. In India every sale is also a taxable transfer at 30% plus 4% cess on any gain.
- Check the proof of reserves. When it comes out, use Binance’s own tool to verify your account is included, and compare the reserves against total liabilities for each coin, not just in total.
- Ignore “recovery agents.” Any DM offering to unlock or recover your Binance funds for a fee is a scam pattern; the only channel is Binance’s own app and announcements.
- Registration is not insurance. Binance is on the FIU-IND list (you can check any exchange with our FIU-IND registered exchange checker), but that is a money-laundering registration. As we explained in Is Binance legal in India?, no Indian regulator protects the balance.
- On tax, a full payback is the clean outcome. If Binance restores balances, you have nothing to report. If it ever didn’t, India gives no deductible loss for stolen crypto, as our guide to hacked and scammed crypto tax shows.
BtcMedia verdict
Binance’s response so far is the strongest any exchange has offered after a hack this size: a named reserve, most of it already in the right tokens, and dated targets. But the facts are still moving, the breach is wider than first said, and $2.4 billion is out of reach. Treat Sunday’s withdrawal restart and Monday’s proof of reserves as the evidence, not the press statements. For coins you plan to hold for years, the lesson from both WazirX and Binance is the same: an exchange wallet is a convenience, not a vault. You can follow the Bitcoin price for any market fallout.
How we calculated this: dollar figures from TRM Labs, Binance and Decrypt as of 30 October 2026; rupee figures use the ECB reference rate of USD/INR 94.95 for 30 October, checked at 2:50 AM IST on 31 October.
FAQ
Is my money on Binance safe after the hack? Binance says user funds were not touched and it will cover all losses from company funds. That is Binance’s statement; independent proof is the reserves report it plans by Monday.
When will Binance withdrawals restart for Indian users? Binance is targeting a restart by Sunday, within about 40 hours of Teng’s 30 October update. Deposits are working.
Do I owe tax because of the Binance hack? Not if your balance is restored and you don’t sell. Any sale you make on Binance is taxed at 30% plus cess on the gain, as usual.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.