Binance investors pulled $4.72 billion out of the world’s largest crypto exchange in a single day after a cyber attack on Thursday drained $6.3 billion in assets, and the selling is now pressing down on the wider crypto market.

The breach hit Binance on Thursday. Roughly $6.3 billion, about Rs 60,000 crore, was stolen. Staff halted trading the moment they suspected something was wrong, and the exchange stayed shut for three days. Industry watchers say no hack in the history of the market has done damage on this scale.

When the platform reopened on Sunday, the exits opened too. Withdrawals surged within minutes of the three-day pause lifting at 11:30 AM IST. The outflow reached $4.72 billion, roughly Rs 45,000 crore, in one day. That equals about 2.8 percent of the assets held on the exchange, which manages a total of $171 billion.

Bitcoin slips below $75,000 as sellers take control

The fear spilled over into the broader market. Bitcoin, the most widely held cryptocurrency, dropped below $75,000. Other major coins are also facing heavy selling pressure. Every withdrawal pulls money away from the exchange, and every sale pushes prices lower, which is exactly the kind of chain reaction that can shake market stability far beyond one platform.

The FBI points to North Korea

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation says North Korea-linked cybercriminals are behind the attack. The FBI has identified a group called TraderTraitor as responsible. The same group, the agency reminds, was also behind a $1.5 billion hack last year.

Investigators allege the stolen assets are being converted into Ethereum. The FBI has urged crypto exchanges and blockchain analytics firms to halt suspicious transactions linked to the theft. Speed matters here. Every hour the funds keep moving makes them harder to trace and harder to freeze.

Binance says the money can come back

Binance is publicly confident it can get most of the money back. The exchange says it expects around 90 percent of the stolen crypto assets to be recovered, and it has already worked with other crypto firms to freeze close to $3 billion of the stolen funds.

Binance expects around 90 percent of the stolen crypto assets to be recovered.

Recovery promises alone have not calmed nervous traders. Many users are still asking the question that is now sweeping the market: who pays for this loss?

Who is liable when an exchange gets hacked?

Legal experts say the answer depends on the exchange’s contractual obligations and how much in assets it manages. Investors may own their assets, but trading and other transactions are handled by the exchange itself, which is why the fine print in those agreements is now under close scrutiny.

The experts add that cyber attacks are, in essence, failures of the exchanges that suffer them. Still, past court rulings have held that exchanges cannot be made fully responsible for every loss. Binance’s commitment to cover the losses is the main reason experts say investors have less reason for alarm.

What it means for Indian investors

In India, cases like this are being handled under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). If an exchange collapses, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) would guide decisions meant to protect investors’ interests, according to legal experts.

For Indian traders with exposure to global exchanges, the immediate lesson is hard. Liquidity can disappear in hours, and the rules that protect you are written in contracts most users never read closely.

The bottom line

The next few days will decide whether Binance can stop the bleeding. If recovery efforts succeed, the exchange may restore confidence. If withdrawals keep pouring out and prices keep sliding, the hack could become the moment the broader crypto market lost its nerve.