Binance is investigating a suspected major hack after cryptocurrency firms froze more than US$2.5 billion in digital assets linked to the incident, AFP reported in a story carried by the New Straits Times.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume disclosed the potential security issue on Thursday (29 October) and maintained that user funds were “completely safe”.
Binance said it was investigating the incident and had temporarily suspended trading on its Binance Alpha platform.
Blockchain analysts had flagged suspicious transactions involving Binance-linked wallets hours before the exchange responded, raising concerns that attackers may have transferred billions of dollars in assets.
Tether and Circle freeze Binance-linked assets
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the stablecoin issuer had frozen nearly US$1.57 billion in USDT linked to the suspected breach.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire confirmed that his company had frozen more than US$800 million in USDC in coordination with law enforcement.
Both USDT and USDC are stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, and their issuers can block transfers of the tokens.
Binance later confirmed that cryptocurrency firms had frozen a combined US$2.54 billion in assets linked to the incident.
“It does look like a hack on Binance,”
said Changpeng Zhao, the exchange’s Founder and former CEO, who remains its majority shareholder.
Suspected hack could surpass Bybit’s US$1.5 billion theft
The incident could become the largest cryptocurrency theft on record if investigators confirm the scale of the suspected losses.
It could surpass the US$1.5 billion stolen from rival exchange Bybit in February 2025, an attack attributed to North Korea-linked hackers.
Binance has yet to confirm the total amount stolen, how the suspected breach occurred or who was responsible.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by p_prakash via Magnific
