Cryptoupdated 1h ago2 min read
Binance Investigates Suspected $5.6 Billion Hack as Tether and Circle Freeze $1.567B and $800M
“temporarily suspended withdrawals on multiple networks following a security incident as a precautionary measure.”
“The exchange has not confirmed a hack.”
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Binance suffered suspected multibillion-dollar outflows, estimated up to $5.8 billion, dwarfing prior hacks. Tether and Circle froze more than $1.5 billion in stablecoins tied to the exchange.
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Binance hack, freezes, totals
Binance faced a suspected multibillion-dollar hack after hot wallets were emptied toward newly created addresses, with the cumulative outflow described as more than $5.6 billion across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino reported the blocking of more than $1.567 billion in USDT, and Circle’s Jeremy Allaire reported blocking more than $800 million in USDC in coordination with law enforcement. CoinGlass said leveraged positions worth $628 million were liquidated within an hour, almost all of them long, after the market reacted within minutes.
Changpeng Zhao said the attack appears to be a hack, that customer funds are safe, and that, as a shareholder, he expects full compensation, while Binance said it was investigating and had not confirmed an impact on users’ funds. The incident was linked in on-chain analysis to a contract call funded through the Tornado Cash mixer, and the attacker moved about 195,460 ETH to a new address in a single transaction.
Circle adds more USDC
Circle said it froze an additional $800 million in USDC after the Binance hack, bringing the total to $1.8 billion, as trader@CryptoMichNLstated on October 29, 2026. Jeremy Allaire said Circle had frozen more than $800 million in USDC in coordination with law enforcement and would continue supporting the investigation. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said his company froze more than $1.567 billion in USDT linked to the potential exploit, and he wrote that “Protecting the industry and our partners is our main priority.”
World Liberty Financial co-founder and CEO Zach Witkoff said “USD1 has taken proactive steps to freeze the $27 million in USD1 associated with the Binance hack,” and Binance co-founder Yi He said World Liberty Financial froze $27 million in USD1 and $2 million worth of WLFI. Aave temporarily froze its lending markets, and Aave said certain assets are “temporarily frozen or paused by Aave community decisions,” while withdrawals and debt repayments remained allowed.
Binance response and fallout
Binance told TechCrunch it was “aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating,” and it said “Rest assured that user funds are completely safe.” Binance spokesperson Ross O’Leary said Binance has “temporarily suspended withdrawals on multiple networks following a security incident as a precautionary measure.” Cointelegraph’s live updates said the incident did not impact Binance.US, while Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao said the activity appeared to be a hack and expected all user funds to be fully covered.
Onchain data flagged by analyst Spreek showed about $3.55 billion in incoming transfers to an unlabeled wallet and nearly $900 million subsequently moved across other wallets, and Conor Grogan said the amount is up to $5.8 billion. The Blockaid team said it identified roughly $3.3 billion in suspicious transfers involving Binance-linked wallets across Ethereum, Arbitrum and Avalanche, and the same reporting said Tether and Circle froze a combined $2.36 billion in tokens linked to the suspected incident.