Binance freezes $3 billion in assets amid suspected hack

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, announced on Thursday that it has frozen approximately $3 billion in digital assets. The freeze is intended to prevent further theft while the company investigates a security breach on its main platform, Binance.com. The exchange has temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals during the investigation.

The incident triggered immediate action from other major players in the crypto sector. Tether and Circle, two prominent stablecoin issuers, reported freezing a combined total of roughly $2.4 billion in assets linked to the potential exploit. These moves aim to stop compromised funds from moving further through the network.

Estimates of the total loss vary among industry analysts. Glassnode, a digital asset advisory firm, calculated the hack involves $5.3 billion in crypto. Chainalysis, a New York-based analytics firm, placed the stolen amount at over $5.9 billion. This figure is nearly four times the value taken from the Dubai-based exchange Bybit in 2025, which was attributed to North Korean hackers.

Changpeng Zhao, a former boss and key shareholder of Binance, stated on the social media platform X that the incident appears to be a hack. While he no longer manages the firm, his comments reflect early assessments from within the company. Binance.US, a separate platform serving American residents, confirmed its systems are not affected by the security issue on Binance.com.

The freeze is part of a series of alerts issued by Binance, which stated that its teams are conducting security checks and that the company will cover all losses. The firm added that the amount of frozen funds may increase as it works with law enforcement to trace and seize additional assets. Binance assured users that their funds are safe and promised a full post-mortem once the investigation concludes.

Market reactions were swift. Bitcoin prices dropped by approximately 5% following the alerts, while other major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Solana, also experienced sharp declines. Industry observers had flagged concerns about the potential breach hours before Binance officially confirmed the security issue.

Jeremy Allaire, chief executive of Circle, said his company is closely tracking the reports and has frozen more than $800 million in assets. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, stated that his firm has frozen around $1.6 billion and that protecting the industry is its main priority. Both companies issue major US dollar-backed cryptocurrencies, USDC and USDT, respectively.