How does the Bybit theft compare?

Hackers stole about $1.5 billion from Bybit in February 2025, and the FBI attributed that attack to North Korea. No agency or analytics firm has attributed the Binance incident to any group so far.

Are frozen funds the same as recovered funds?

Frozen tokens are not the same as recovered assets. Returning them through issuers or courts typically takes weeks, so a freeze can limit the attacker's movement of funds without immediately restoring the exchange's holdings.

Chainalysis Puts Suspected Binance Hack at $5.9 Billion, Far Above Bybit

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that about $5.912 billion was stolen in the suspected Binance hack, according to CoinDesk, nearly four times the Bybit theft in 2025. Binance has not confirmed a loss figure, and deposits and withdrawals remain suspended while it works with law enforcement.

Disclaimer: News content is based on public news sources and provided for information only. It does not constitute investment advice.

Chainalysis Puts Suspected Binance Hack at $5.9 Billion, Far Above Bybit

Forexlive·10/30/2026, 01:06:31· crypto

Chainalysis Estimate and the Bybit Comparison

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that about $5.912 billion was stolen in the suspected Binance hack, according to a CoinDesk report on Friday, 30 October. That figure is nearly four times the roughly $1.5 billion taken from Bybit in February 2025, which had been crypto's largest theft; the FBI attributed the Bybit attack to North Korea. The estimate is the first from a major analytics firm and sits at the top of the range of on-chain tallies circulating since Thursday evening. No agency or analytics firm has attributed the Binance incident to any group so far.

Frozen Funds Leave a Multi-Billion-Dollar Gap

Binance has said verified frozen assets total $2.54 billion, most of it 1.567 billion USDT frozen by Tether and more than 800 million USDC frozen by Circle. Set against Chainalysis's $5.912 billion estimate, that leaves roughly $3.4 billion outside the freezes, though the gap could narrow if more funds are traced and blocked. Frozen tokens are not the same as recovered assets, because returning them through issuers or courts typically takes weeks. The distinction matters because freezes can limit an attacker's movement of funds without immediately restoring the exchange's own holdings.

SAFU Reserve and Binance's Funding Pledge

The potential shortfall is well beyond Binance's Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU, an emergency reserve of about $1 billion in bitcoin. Binance has pledged to cover all losses, but it has not said how it would fund a gap that, on the Chainalysis estimate, could exceed the reserve by several billion dollars. The estimate also sits above Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao's earlier suggestion that losses after freezes may be slightly over $1 billion, while earlier on-chain reviews focused on about $3.3 billion leaving Binance's Ethereum hot wallets. Wider tallies of around $5.6 billion have included bitcoin and Tron outflows, which some analysts cautioned were not yet tied to the attacker; Chainalysis has not published a breakdown.

Suspended Withdrawals and Open Questions

Binance has suspended all deposits and withdrawals while it runs security checks and works with law enforcement, and it has promised a full post-mortem. It has given no date for reopening and has not said how the attacker gained access or who was responsible. Binance has also not confirmed a loss figure, leaving Chainalysis's estimate and the exchange's own accounting as separate reference points. The key disclosures are whether Binance confirms or disputes the estimate, how much more of the stolen funds can be frozen, and how the exchange will pay for losses that could run into billions of dollars. This account is based on public news sources.

BinanceChainalysiscrypto hackBybitSAFU

Frequently asked questions

How large is Chainalysis's estimate for the suspected Binance hack?▾

Chainalysis estimates about $5.912 billion was stolen, according to CoinDesk. That is nearly four times the roughly $1.5 billion taken from Bybit in February 2025, which had been the largest crypto theft on record.

How much has Binance frozen?▾

Binance says verified frozen assets total $2.54 billion, including 1.567 billion USDT frozen by Tether and more than 800 million USDC frozen by Circle. Against the Chainalysis estimate, that leaves about $3.4 billion outside the freezes, although the gap could narrow if more funds are traced and blocked.

What is SAFU and why is it relevant?▾

SAFU is Binance's Secure Asset Fund for Users, an emergency reserve of about $1 billion in bitcoin. Because the potential shortfall on the Chainalysis estimate exceeds that reserve, most of any gap would fall on Binance's own balance sheet if the figure holds.

Has Binance confirmed the loss figure?▾

No. Binance has not confirmed a loss figure and has suspended all deposits and withdrawals while it runs security checks and works with law enforcement. It has promised a full post-mortem but has given no date for reopening.

Key takeaways

Chainalysis Estimate and the Bybit Comparison

Frozen Funds Leave a Multi-Billion-Dollar Gap

SAFU Reserve and Binance's Funding Pledge

Suspended Withdrawals and Open Questions

Common mistakes to avoid

Reacting to a single headline without reading the full context — one data point is rarely the whole story.
Treating rewritten news as a signal — it describes what happened, never what to do next.
Confusing AI-rewritten content with the original source — always verify important facts against the primary report.

Chainalysis Puts Suspected Binance Hack at $5.9 Billion, Far Above Bybit

Chainalysis Estimate and the Bybit Comparison

Frozen Funds Leave a Multi-Billion-Dollar Gap

SAFU Reserve and Binance's Funding Pledge

Suspended Withdrawals and Open Questions

Frequently asked questions

Key takeaways

Common mistakes to avoid

Related reading

Chainalysis Estimate and the Bybit Comparison

Frozen Funds Leave a Multi-Billion-Dollar Gap

SAFU Reserve and Binance's Funding Pledge

Suspended Withdrawals and Open Questions

Frequently asked questions

Key takeaways

Common mistakes to avoid

Related reading