Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said Thursday that digital assets worth $6.3 billion have been affected by a major security incident that could rank among the largest cryptocurrency hacks in history.

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange said approximately half of the affected assets had been frozen with assistance from other platforms. Binance also pledged to cover all losses resulting from the incident.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the attack may have involved an engineer's compromised laptop, which allegedly enabled an attacker to carry out unauthorized withdrawals, the company said.

Two blockchain analytics firms have linked the incident to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor, although investigations into the attack are ongoing.

AI-powered investigations firm TRM Labs said several aspects of the incident resembled previous cyberattacks attributed to North Korean-linked actors, including the $1.5 billion hack targeting cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in 2025.

If confirmed, the Binance incident would surpass the Bybit attack and set a new record for losses associated with a cryptocurrency security breach.

The reported scale of the incident has renewed concerns about cybersecurity risks facing the digital asset industry, particularly the vulnerability of cryptocurrency platforms to sophisticated attacks and compromised internal systems.

Binance said it was working with other cryptocurrency platforms to freeze affected assets and limit further losses. The company has not yet released a complete breakdown of the assets involved or provided a definitive explanation of how the attackers gained access.

Investigators are continuing to examine the incident, including the possibility that compromised employee equipment played a role in the unauthorized transactions. (ILKHA)