Episode Details

Hackers have stolen approximately $6.36 billion from Binance in the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. Days later, Brazil's Mercado Bitcoin was hit by another major attack. So just how safe are the world's biggest crypto exchanges?

In this episode of the Payment Expert Podcast, host and News Editor Lewis Thompson is joined by senior business journalist Kieran to examine two major crypto security incidents and what they could mean for the future of digital asset protection.

On 29 October 2026, approximately $6.36 billion was stolen from Binance wallets across multiple blockchains, with much of the theft taking place in around 20 minutes. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korea-linked hacking group.

Just days later, Mercado Bitcoin suffered a separate breach, with blockchain investigators estimating tens of millions of dollars in stolen assets.

The incidents have raised major questions about exchange security, hot wallets, customer funds and the growing concentration of cryptocurrency assets within large centralised platforms.

Lewis and Kieran discuss how the attacks unfolded, why online-connected wallets present security challenges, and whether customers can rely on crypto exchanges to reimburse their losses.

They also explore the role of stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Circle in freezing stolen funds, the differences between crypto exchange protections and traditional banking safeguards, and whether cryptocurrency is moving further away from its original promise of decentralisation.

In this episode:

How the record $6.36 billion Binance hack unfolded
Why investigators have linked the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group
What happened during the Mercado Bitcoin security breach
The risks associated with crypto hot wallets
Whether customers can recover stolen cryptocurrency
How stablecoin issuers can freeze assets
Binance's emergency customer protection fund
Centralised exchanges versus self-custody
The future of cryptocurrency security and regulation

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