Binance Gets Hit With History’s Largest Crypto Hack as U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Russia
Welcome again to your favorite weekly crypto news roundup, homies. Today we are hoping that the markets have been kinder to your portfolio than the headlines suggest. So... remember when Mt. Gox losing 850,000 BTC back in 2014 felt like the apocalypse? Or when Ronin Network got drained for $625M, and everyone said that was the one that would finally kill DeFi?. Honestly guys, crypto always finds a way to outdo itself. And this time, the exchange that once processed more daily volume than some countries’ GDPs was hit for $6.3 billion in what’s already the largest crypto hack in history….. Six. Point. Three. Billion. You genuinely cannot write this stuff.
China, meanwhile, is fully getting the memo on the dark side of crypto, and they’re going after officials who used crypto to hide corrupt wealth, which is also an ironic move for a country that technically banned crypto trading years ago. In almost the same fashion, the U.S. is going after Russian nationals who ran crypto conversion operations on behalf of North Korean IT workers funneling money into a weapons program. And KuCoin has had to put a stop to the relationship with Russian users with that classic breakup line, "It's not you, it’s compliance.”
Let’s get into the highlights, guys:
- Binance Suffers "Largest Hack in History" With $6.3B Stolen
- China Puts Crypto on Its Anti-Corruption Hit List
- KuCoin suspends services in Russia and Belarus
- U.S. sanctions Russian nationals for laundering millions in crypto for North Korean IT workers
Binance Suffers "Largest Hack in History" With $6.3B Stolen
Binance said on Thursday, Oct. 29, that a hack compromised about $6.3 billion in digital assets on its exchange. The incident has been described as the largest hack in history, surpassing the $1.5 billion theft on Bybit in 2025. The exchange paused all deposits and withdrawals in response while it runs security checks. The exchange said in an early review that a DevOps engineer's laptop was compromised, which allowed the attacker to submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the exchange but is its largest shareholder, was among the first to comment on the hack.
China Puts Crypto on Its Anti-Corruption Hit List
China’s Communist Party has put crypto on the target list of its anti-corruption campaign. A resolution published Sunday orders investigators to chase graft that moves through virtual currency, blockchain, and money sent abroad. The order changes no law, since crypto trading is already banned on the mainland. The risk falls on officials, their families and fixers. Those are the people who park hidden wealth in digital coins or offshore accounts. Investors in Chinese tech firms face a second change, with more Party oversight inside platform companies. The resolution was adopted on October 29 at the Fifth Plenum, a closed-door meeting of the Party’s top leaders.
KuCoin Suspends Services in Russia and Belarus
Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin announced that it would immediately suspend services for its users in Russia and Belarus, citing legal and regulatory compliance concerns. In a Thursday notice, KuCoin said it had suspended access to all products and services for users based in Russia and Belarus. According to the exchange, it would offer an “orderly exit process” to allow users to withdraw assets. “Compliance is at the core of our operations and guides our decisions on where and how we offer our services,” said the exchange in a Thursday X post regarding the service suspension.
U.S. Sanctions Russian Nationals for Laundering Millions in Crypto for North Korean IT Workers
The U.S. sanctioned two Russian nationals accused of converting millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for North Korean IT worker networks that funnel earnings from foreign employers into the regime’s weapons programs. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 10 individuals and one entity on Oct. 28, targeting financial intermediaries and workers based in Russia and North Korea. Ilya Aleksandrovich Boykov allegedly exchanged and converted $3.5 million in crypto transactions for Alis, a company sanctioned in March 2024 linked to North Korean IT workers, Treasury said.
Other Highlights Worth Mentioning
Bitcoin Steadies Near $78,000 as Binance Withdrawals Resume — Yahoo Finance
$8 Million Crypto Kidnapping Lands Texas Brothers 15-Year Prison Terms — Decrypt
Crypto scammers used SEC’s website to lure investors into alleged $130 million fraud — Cryptoslate
Robinhood Posts Record $1.4 Billion Revenue Amid 14% Profit Drop and Hidden Portfolio Losses — KuCoin
COINIGY FACT OF THE DAY
On this day, November 2, 2017, Bitcoin crossed the $7,000 mark for the first time in history, reaching an intraday high of approximately $7,354 on the Bitstamp exchange.
The milestone came during an extraordinary bull run that had seen Bitcoin more than double in value in just seven weeks. The rally was partly fueled by CME Group's announcement that it planned to introduce Bitcoin futures, opening the door to greater institutional participation. The combined cryptocurrency market capitalization also climbed above $190 billion, marking another major milestone in crypto's rapid expansion.
COINIGY MEME OF THE WEEK
