The Binance hack is way bigger than any other known heist in the crypto world

The estimated $6.3 billion theft reported Thursday by crypto exchange Binance isn't the first time the industry has dealt with a major, unexpected incident in which large sums of customer assets are frozen , spurring a rout in crypto stocks.

It may bring to mind crypto's more turbulent days, such as the collapse of FTX, though in that full-on meltdown , with an initial shortfall of $8 billion to $8.9 billion, the Binance rival's own founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with the heist. Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud in 2024 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The Binance hack has rattled crypto markets: Bitcoin ( BTC ), other digital assets, and related stocks have sunk over the last 24 hours. The company has temporarily suspended customer withdrawals, and outside investigators are racing to track down the stolen funds. The company said it has successfully frozen 44% of stolen funds with the help of stablecoin issuers and "will cover all losses" from the incident.

As far as comparable hacks go, this most recent theft towers over the rest in terms of scale. Here are four major crypto thefts you may not have heard of.

Nearly $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit in February 2025

Hackers linked to North Korea stole nearly $1.5 billion in ether from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. The attackers manipulated a transaction approval process, allowing them to redirect assets from a supposedly secure wallet.

$625 million on Ronin Network compromised in March 2022

Hackers compromised the security infrastructure of Ronin Network, a blockchain connected to Axie Infinity, a then-popular online crypto game. Hackers stole approximately 173,600 ether and 25.5 million USDC tokens . US authorities weeks later attributed the attack to North Korean hackers , known as the Lazarus Group.

$611 million nabbed from Poly Network in August 2021

In 2021, an attacker exploited a vulnerability in Poly Network, a platform designed to transfer crypto across different blockchains. In an unusual development, the attacker subsequently returned nearly all of the stolen assets, claiming they did it " for fun " and to expose a software vulnerability.

$3.5 billion lost from Chinese bitcoin mining pool LuBian in December 2020 (Unconfirmed)

A crypto wallet tied to a little-known Chinese bitcoin mining pool called LuBian may have been the victim of what would be the second-largest crypto theft ever recorded after Binance's breach.

LuBian apparently lost more than 127,426 BTC after hackers potentially exploited weaknesses in how the company generated its private keys, according to findings reported by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence. The suspected theft wasn't identified until August of last year.

Follow David Hollerith on X @DsHollers .