Binance hack losses estimated near $6.3B as markets slide

Binance is covering losses from the largest crypto exchange hack on record, now estimated around $6.3 billion — Chainalysis had put the toll near $5.9 billion — with blockchain sleuths pointing to North Korea's Lazarus Group. The exchange blamed a potentially compromised employee laptop, pledged to cover all losses and suspended withdrawals; bitcoin fell below $77,000 before recovering to just under $78,000.

• The hacker split 18,270 BTC (~$1.4 billion) into 19 wallets — 17 holding exactly 1,000 BTC each — and dumped FUN and other small-cap tokens into thin markets, crashing some prices by as much as 90%.
• About $3 billion in stolen assets has been frozen with law enforcement, and stablecoin issuers froze over $2.39 billion (Tether $1.567B in USDT, Circle over $800M in USDC).
• The fallout is spreading: CoinDCX, India's largest exchange, restricted new futures positions after the incident disrupted a key liquidity provider.
• Tech markets slid alongside crypto — QQQ down more than 2% and Intel plunging about 25% after hours on weak guidance as AI-spending concerns mounted, with neocloud miners Cipher Mining, TeraWulf and IREN each off roughly 5%.