Key Takeaways
- • Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on October 29 that roughly $3 billion in crypto assets had been frozen while it investigated a potential security breach, with the amount subject to increase as tracing continues.
- • Stablecoin issuers Tether (about $1.57 billion frozen) and Circle (more than $800 million frozen) accounted for much of the freezing activity, according to the article.
- • Binance co-founder Yi He said the exchange "will cover all hacking losses," and user funds were stated to remain safe.
- • Ripple froze roughly $200 million, and World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to U.S. President Donald Trump's family, worked with custodian BitGo to freeze funds it described as stolen in the Binance hack.
- • Withdrawals remain paused pending resolution, and Binance Alpha trading was temporarily suspended as a precaution; Binance.US and Coinbase reported no impact.
Summary
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday, October 29, that $3 billion in crypto assets had been frozen as it investigated a potential security breach, according to Reuters. The figure, which the exchange said could rise as it works with law enforcement, token issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners, is the headline number in what the exchange has characterized as a hacking incident.
Stablecoin issuers played a central role in the response. Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than $800 million. Ripple said it had frozen roughly $200 million in related funds, and Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, said the company was coordinating with relevant parties. Binance's Yi He said $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million in World Liberty tokens had also been frozen.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, said it had worked with custodian BitGo to freeze funds it described as stolen in what it called a Binance hack. Binance co-founder Yi He said the exchange "will cover all hacking losses." Co-founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the company, said in a post on X that the incident "looked like a hack."
Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor, and that the incident began around 4:30 p.m. EST and appeared to be ongoing. The exact cause had not been confirmed. Binance said it was conducting security checks, would resume withdrawals once the issue was fully resolved, and had temporarily suspended trading on its Binance Alpha platform as a precaution.
The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. According to TRM Labs, attackers stole $2.9 billion in cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks last year. In September, exchange Bitget said roughly $350 million had been stolen from its platform. Binance, which has more than 300 million registered users and about $160 billion in assets under custody according to its 2024 annual report, said Binance.US was not affected, and Coinbase said it was unaffected and monitoring the situation. Separately, prediction market operator Polymarket halted trading on Thursday after a security incident involving a third-party provider, an unrelated event that it said it would fully reimburse affected traders for.
Stablecoin issuers played a central role in the response. Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than $800 million. Ripple said it had frozen roughly $200 million in related funds, and Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, said the company was coordinating with relevant parties. Binance's Yi He said $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million in World Liberty tokens had also been frozen.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, said it had worked with custodian BitGo to freeze funds it described as stolen in what it called a Binance hack. Binance co-founder Yi He said the exchange "will cover all hacking losses." Co-founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the company, said in a post on X that the incident "looked like a hack."
Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor, and that the incident began around 4:30 p.m. EST and appeared to be ongoing. The exact cause had not been confirmed. Binance said it was conducting security checks, would resume withdrawals once the issue was fully resolved, and had temporarily suspended trading on its Binance Alpha platform as a precaution.
The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. According to TRM Labs, attackers stole $2.9 billion in cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks last year. In September, exchange Bitget said roughly $350 million had been stolen from its platform. Binance, which has more than 300 million registered users and about $160 billion in assets under custody according to its 2024 annual report, said Binance.US was not affected, and Coinbase said it was unaffected and monitoring the situation. Separately, prediction market operator Polymarket halted trading on Thursday after a security incident involving a third-party provider, an unrelated event that it said it would fully reimburse affected traders for.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.