BOSTON/SINGAPORE/PARIS: Binance has pledged to cover losses after hackers stole $6.3 billion from the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange in an attack that analysts blamed on North Korea and said could be the biggest financial heist ever recorded.

Cryptocurrency prices fell following news of the breach, while Binance halted withdrawals and said it would use company funds to cover the losses. Stablecoin issuers including El Salvador-based Tether and the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial froze about half of the stolen assets.

The exchange said customer funds were safe and that it was working with partners to freeze affected assets, with about $3 billion located so far. It said it expected to resume withdrawal services within 48 hours.

Binance did not give the status of the remaining $3.3 billion, but co-CEO Yi He said $3 billion represented only about 2% of the company's total user assets and public reserves.

The exchange said it had internally set aside around $6.34 billion of company funds to cover the losses.

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng described the breach as a "complex attack" that was not carried out by one person and involved a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to delete evidence of its activity, "making it more difficult for us to trace and investigate."

The hackers were able to manipulate a system used to approve transactions, allowing them to move money from a Binance-controlled, internet-connected "hot" wallet without going through normal approval controls, Teng said.

"Rest assured that we are working non-stop to resolve this, to make the users whole, and live up to your trust," Teng wrote.

The bulk of the theft took place over about 20 minutes late Thursday and bore similarities to previous major attacks blamed on North Korea, according to U.S. blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis.

"This incident is almost certainly the single largest known theft of any kind," British blockchain analysts Elliptic said.

TRM said the attackers were able to order Binance wallets to empty into hacker-controlled wallets, resembling a 2025 attack on crypto exchange Bybit that the FBI attributed to North Korea.

North Korea routinely denies allegations that it uses state-linked cyber units for financial theft. Its mission in Geneva and embassy in China did not respond to requests for comment.

"When North Korea steals at this scale, the money supports weapons proliferation, which makes this a national security issue, not just a crypto theft," Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM, said.

Binance is working with the FBI and U.S. Secret Service, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters.

The FBI said it was "aware of the incident and is engaged with relevant public and private partners to understand the scope of the activity, evaluate potential impacts, and coordinate appropriate investigative steps."

Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the attack, while Circle froze more than $800 million.

Cryptocurrency prices fell broadly, although losses were contained. Bitcoin touched a six-week low of $76,368, while ether fell more than 3% to a two-month low of $2,178 before both recovered some ground. Binance's BNB token was down 6.74% over 24 hours at $698.

Analysts said the breach could have broader implications for the cryptocurrency sector.

"It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralised exchanges," said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group.

Binance has 335 million registered users worldwide and held about $162.8 billion in assets under custody as of its 2025 annual report.