Finance1 min read

Blockaid: Binance hackers stole ~$2.5B, or 40% of the $6.3B haul, in a single Ethereum transaction using wallet permissions that cost just $15 to set up (Sidhartha Shukla/Bloomberg)

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Attackers targeting Binance managed to drain approximately $2.5 billion through a single transaction on the Ethereum network. According to findings from cybersecurity firm Blockaid, this specific movement made up about 40% of an overall $6.3 billion haul. The perpetrators carried out the historic digital theft by taking advantage of compromised wallet permissions. Remarkably, establishing the exact permissions needed for the exploit cost the attackers only $15.

Key points

  • Hackers targeted Binance to siphon billions of dollars using compromised wallet permissio…: Hackers targeted Binance to siphon billions of dollars using compromised wallet permissions.
  • A substantial portion of the broader $6.3 billion theft occurred in a single transfer.: A substantial portion of the broader $6.3 billion theft occurred in a single transfer.
  • The attackers required an investment of only $15 to set up the permissions that enabled t…: The attackers required an investment of only $15 to set up the permissions that enabled the theft.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Natalia Kniazhevich / Bloomberg: |

Jada Nagumo / Nikkei Asia: |

Thinking Machines Lab: |

Emma Roth / The Verge: |

Djohnson / CyberScoop: |

Davey Alba / Bloomberg: |

Wall Street Journal: |

Tiffany Li / The Information: |

New York Times: |

Matthias Bastian / The Decoder: |

Radhika Rajkumar / ZDNET: |

Reuters: |

Wall Street Journal: |

Dina Bass / Bloomberg: |

Kelly Cloonan / Wall Street Journal: |

Meghan Bobrowsky / Wall Street Journal: |

Jay Peters / The Verge: |

Bloomberg: |

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters: |

Elias Schisgall / Wall Street Journal: |

Business Insider: |

Emma Roth / The Verge: |

Reuters: |

Tom Warren / The Verge: |

The Information: |

Financial Times: |

Joel Khalili / Wired: |

Nieman Lab: |

Manya Saini / Reuters: |

Sidhartha Shukla / Bloomberg: |

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:25 AM ET, November 6, 2026.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot…

Finance