Crypto Hackers Stole $6.48B In October, But One Heist Was 97% Of It
Hackers stole $6.48 billion from crypto companies and users in October, more than eight times September’s total, but a single attack on Binance made up about 97% of it, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.
Key Takeaways
- PeckShield counted 56 major hacks in October with $6.48 billion in losses, up about 745% from $766.49 million in September
- The Binance attack, at about $6.3 billion, accounts for roughly 97% of October’s losses
- Without Binance, October’s other 55 hacks cost about $180 million, far less than September
- Crypto hack losses for 2026 so far stand at about $8.6 billion, and the 10 biggest hacks make up 92.3% of that
One Hack, Almost The Whole Month
PeckShield said on Sunday that October brought 56 major hacks and $6.48 billion in losses, about 745% more than September’s $766.49 million.
That headline number is almost entirely one event. PeckShield puts the Binance theft on Oct. 29 at about $6.3 billion, with about $3 billion of it already frozen. Take Binance out and the other 55 hacks in October add up to roughly $180 million, which would make it a quieter month than September.
That matters for how the month gets read. October was not a wave of attacks across the industry. It was one historic theft from the world’s biggest exchange, which the FBI has blamed on North Korea, on top of an ordinary run of smaller hacks.
The 10 Biggest Hacks Of 2026
Binance now sits at the top of PeckShield’s list for the year, ahead of the Bitget exchange hack in September.
Also Read: Crypto Thief Who Robbed Binance Is Sitting On $484M And Hiding The Rest
The Year So Far
PeckShield said the 10 biggest hacks made up 92.3% of the year’s total losses of $8.6 billion. Those 10 add up to about $7.94 billion. Binance alone is about 73% of everything stolen in crypto this year.
The totals look smaller once recovered money is counted. PeckShield’s figures are before frozen and returned funds. Binance’s $3 billion freeze and the $285 million returned to Liquid Network together cut more than $3.2 billion from the losses on the top 10 list. In Liquid’s case, the attackers called themselves white hats and sent back 3,400 of the 4,000 Bitcoin they took, PeckShield said in September.
Others are still moving the money. The Drift attacker began sending stolen Ether into the privacy tool Tornado Cash on Oct. 20, after two months of silence, with about 21,300 ETH, or $50 million, sent so far, PeckShield reported.
How The Numbers Are Counted
PeckShield tracks hacks through its own alerts and counts what it calls major incidents, valued in dollars at the time of each theft. Other security firms use different cutoffs and prices, so their totals differ. Security firm CertiK, for example, counted $1.32 billion lost across 344 incidents in the first half of 2026, and its figure for the Kelp DAO hack was about $291 million rather than PeckShield’s $285 million.
The bigger pattern holds across firms. Analytics company Chainalysis said on Friday that suspected North Korean hacks account for nearly 89% of reported crypto hack losses this year, up from 15% in 2021.
What To Watch
- How much of the frozen Binance money is actually returned, which would cut the year’s net losses sharply
- Whether November returns to the roughly $180 million to $770 million range seen in October without Binance and in September
- More recoveries on the list, where PeckShield shows frozen or returned money for only two of the 10 biggest hacks
Read Next: We Traced The $6.3B Binance Hack, And Half Of It Is Already Frozen
Related: Sen. Lummis Says Her Crypto Bill Could Have Slowed The $6.3B Binance Heist
