UAE regulators will have to deal with the Binance super-hack

UAE regulators have the largest cryptocurrency hack in history on their hands. Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority is essentially the home regulator for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, which got hit with a USD 6.3 bn hack last week. MGX also has a USD 2 bn stake in the exchange.

It’s not clear what actions the regulator might take. The FSRA is “aware of the matter,” it said in a statement, and is “engaging closely with Binance.” Efforts to claw back the hacked funds will likely fall to US law enforcement, including the FBI, which attributed the hack to North Korea. Binance employs about 1k people in the UAE, accounting for about 20% of its workforce, per Semafor.

The stakes: The Binance hack is more than four times larger than the previous record holder for the largest-ever crypto hack, a 2025 North Korea-linked theft targeting the Bybit exchange — and a stark indication of how AI-powered cybertheft is leading to skyrocketing costs for victims. Here are details from the New York Times.

What about customers? Binance says it will cover the losses with its own money and has already covered about 95%. It reopened withdrawals on Sunday, CNN reports.

What’s still missing: About USD 2.4 bn of the stolen coins are now out of reach, per TRM Labs, a firm that tracks crypto transactions.