'Elite North Korean hackers' blamed for $6.3B Binance hack

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a reported $6.36bn theft across ten blockchains on 29 October, making it the largest crypto heist on record and roughly four times the 2025 Bybit breach. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs attributed the attack with high confidence to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit. Binance’s initial investigation suggests a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop gave attackers access to a service container, from which they submitted unauthorized withdrawals; the company says there is no evidence that wallet private keys were exposed. Binance temporarily suspended some withdrawals, revoked affected address permissions and began working with law enforcement and blockchain partners. About $3bn of the stolen assets has been frozen, including funds blocked by stablecoin issuers, while the exchange says it will cover customers’ losses. The breach rattled markets, with major cryptocurrencies and crypto-related stocks falling.

The update also reports a cooling UK housing market. Nationwide data shows annual house-price growth slowed to 0.5% in October, from 0.8% in September, its weakest rate since January 2024; prices were unchanged month to month. Higher mortgage costs appear to be weighing on demand, with average fixed-rate mortgages nearing 6%. Nationwide’s chief economist points to an uncertain economic outlook, geopolitical tensions and energy-driven inflation concerns as factors pushing market interest rates higher and keeping mortgage pricing elevated. Weak new-buyer enquiries and declining consumer confidence suggest further near-term softness.