Deribit Hot Wallets Drained in $28 Million Hack
The largest bitcoin and ether options exchange confirmed the breach of its BTC, ETH and USDC hot wallets and froze withdrawals.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Cybersecurity
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Hackers drained Deribit's hot wallets on November 1, 2026, taking about 9,080 ETH and 691 BTC, a total loss of roughly $28 million. Deribit confirmed the incident on November 2 and says its insurance fund and company reserves will cover the full loss.
Why it matters
It is the first time Deribit has lost money to a hack, and it follows a theft of close to $6.3 billion from Binance on October 29, 2026. The breach shows how exchange hot wallets remain exposed even as most customer funds are held in cold storage.
Deribit lost about $28 million across BTC, ETH and USDC hot wallets, with a chunk of USDC also taken, while 99% of customer funds remain in cold storage. The attackers' identity and the full USDC amount have not been disclosed.
The players
Deribit
Deribit is a cryptocurrency options exchange founded in Amsterdam and now the largest bitcoin and ether options exchange by market share, which Coinbase acquired for $2.9 billion.
The details
Cobo's systems flagged anomalies in withdrawal requests and alerted Deribit directly before the company confirmed the incident at 07:00 UTC on November 2. Deribit froze withdrawals across the board, including through Copper, Clearloop and Cobo, and withdrawals resumed at 3:30 PM that day with on-chain withdrawals restored later that night.
Timeline
October 29, 2026: Binance suffers a theft of close to $6.3 billion, the largest crypto theft on record.
November 1, 2026: Hackers drain Deribit's hot wallets before midnight UTC.
November 2, 2026 at 07:00 UTC: Deribit confirms the hack and freezes withdrawals.
November 2, 2026 at 3:30 PM: Withdrawals through Copper, Clearloop and Cobo resume.
Market Landscape
The Deribit hack comes just days after the Binance theft of close to $6.3 billion, the largest crypto theft on record. It signals continued pressure on centralized exchanges to secure hot wallets that hold a small share of customer assets.
Users who hold funds on centralized exchanges face withdrawal freezes and delays while platforms investigate breaches. Keeping a portion of holdings in self-custody reduces exposure to hot wallet losses like this one.
The takeaway
Exchange breaches can halt withdrawals even when most assets sit in cold storage, so checking how a platform handles hot wallet risk and insurance is worth the effort. Spreading holdings across custody options limits how much any single incident can disrupt access.
Further reading
Explore more Cybersecurity coverage to see how exchange breaches fit into the wider threat landscape.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Startup Fortune.
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