Binance Investigates Security Issue; Crypto Firms Freeze Billions
The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is examining a potential hack after partner firms froze over $2.5 billion in assets.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is investigating reports of a potential security issue that its founder described as appearing to be a hack on the platform. By Thursday evening, cryptocurrency firms involved in the situation had frozen more than $2.5 billion in funds.
It remained unclear Thursday what damage hackers may have inflicted or if funds were definitively stolen. A Binance spokesperson stated, "Rest assured that user funds are completely safe." The company's security teams are reportedly reviewing information urgently and will provide updates through official channels.
Binance later stated on its X account that the verified total of frozen funds had reached $2.54 billion. The company indicated this figure could rise as teams collaborate with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms, and industry partners to trace and freeze additional assets.
Both stablecoin providers Tether and Circle confirmed they had frozen funds on Thursday in response to the incident. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, posted on X that his company had frozen the equivalent of over $800 million in currency associated with the incident, acting in coordination with law enforcement. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino reported on X that his company had frozen over $1.5 billion in currency related to what he termed a "potential Binance exchange hack."
The price of bitcoin saw a slight decline, dropping 3.2% to under $79,000 on Thursday evening.
Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao. In 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to a felony charge related to failing to prevent money laundering on the platform and subsequently stepped down as CEO. He was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2025.
Zhao posted on X on Thursday, affirming that "User funds are safe!" but also commenting that the incident "does look like a hack on Binance." He added that while he no longer manages the exchange, he expects "all user funds will be fully covered" as a shareholder.
Zhao was released from prison last year after being sentenced for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, marking the first time an individual received prison time for such violations. Prosecutors had stated that no one had previously violated the act's regulations to the extent Zhao did. Zhao and Binance have been noted as significant supporters of some of the Trump family's cryptocurrency ventures.