Binance Suffered Record $6.36 Billion Theft After 36‑Hour Preparation

A sophisticated attacker spent at least 36 hours preparing a coordinated attack on Binance that began on the evening of Oct. 29. The operation started with a rapid transfer of 233.46 million XRP (≈$296 million) from five Binance wallets on the XRP Ledger into a single attacker‑controlled address. Within minutes, the attacker moved assets across ten blockchains: Solana, Optimism, Bitcoin (18,270 BTC ≈$1.47 billion), Tron (612.7 million USDT and 46.4 million TRX ≈$628 million), Ethereum (167,464 ETH and 1.615 billion USDT), USDC, Avalanche, and Polygon. The attacker used malicious smart‑contract code and EIP‑7702 authorisations to sweep funds from hot wallets, repeatedly executing sweeps as new assets entered the compromised accounts. The theft totaled $6.36 billion, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. The incident illustrates how a single, well‑timed exploit can simultaneously drain multiple blockchains, highlighting the need for robust multi‑chain security measures and vigilant monitoring of hot‑wallet authorisations.