Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency platform, confirmed on Thursday it was probing a possible security incident with an estimated $6.3 billion impact, according to Deutsche Welle. Cryptocurrency companies using the platform moved to freeze about $3 billion in assets amid fears of a major hack, Yahoo Finance reported.

The incident, if confirmed, would rank as the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, according to PCMag Middle East. Binance said it had located and frozen roughly $3 billion of the affected funds so far, though it did not provide information about the remaining $3.3 billion, Deutsche Welle reported.

Binance Confirms Investigation Into Potential Breach

The exchange described the situation as a "security issue" and halted deposits and withdrawals while carrying out security checks, freezing funds and coordinating with law enforcement, Yahoo Finance reported. Binance said it would resume withdrawals once the issue was fully resolved, according to Daily Maverick and The Tribune.

In a post on X, Binance said early findings pointed to a DevOps engineer's laptop being compromised, giving an attacker entry to a service container and the ability to submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions, according to Deutsche Welle and PCMag Middle East. The company added that it had found no evidence of any wallet private key leak.

The frozen total could rise as teams coordinate with law enforcement, token issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and other partners to trace and lock down further assets, Binance said, according to Daily Maverick. The Tribune reported that Binance first put the verified frozen figure at $2.54 billion, then lifted it to roughly $3 billion in a subsequent update.

The company also paused trading on its Binance Alpha platform as a precautionary step, saying activity there would restart once the issue was resolved, according to Daily Maverick and The Tribune. Binance said it would publish a detailed post-mortem once the investigation was complete, The Tribune reported.

Zhao and Yi He Respond to Binance Hack

Changpeng Zhao, the Binance co-founder and former CEO who remains a major shareholder, wrote on X that the episode resembled a hack, according to Daily Maverick. "It does look like a hack on Binance," Zhao wrote, adding that he no longer manages the company but expects all user funds will be fully covered, Yahoo Finance reported.

Binance co-founder Yi He said the company would cover all hacking losses, without providing more details about the incident, according to Daily Maverick and Deutsche Welle. "Binance will cover all hacking losses," Yi said. She also indicated the exchange maintains an emergency reserve to protect users should a major loss occur, PCMag Middle East reported.

Binance said customer funds are covered, including by its Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, and that withdrawals were paused while the environment was checked, PCMag Middle East reported. The SAFU fund was established in 2018 to serve as a backstop for customers in extreme situations and is generally maintained at around $1 billion, though it has fluctuated with market movements, according to The Business Times.

Zhao stepped down as CEO in 2023 after pleading guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws, Yahoo Finance reported. He was pardoned by US President Donald Trump in 2025, Deutsche Welle reported. Zhao and Binance have been key supporters of cryptocurrency ventures by Trump and his family, according to Deutsche Welle.

Crypto Firms Freeze Billions in Response

Tether froze more than $1.5 billion in USDT, its dollar-backed stablecoin, in response to the potential hack, CEO Paolo Ardoino said, according to Yahoo Finance. "Tether froze more than 1.567B USDT related to a potential Binance exchange hack," Ardoino said in a post on X, according to The Tribune.

Circle locked down over $800 million in USDC tied to the breach while working alongside law enforcement, according to PCMag Middle East and The Tribune. Chief executive Jeremy Allaire said his firm was "closely tracking reports of a potential exploit involving Binance," Yahoo Finance reported.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture tied to US President Donald Trump and his family, announced Thursday it had partnered with custodian BitGo to lock down funds it said were stolen in the Binance hack, Daily Maverick reported. Binance's Yi said the frozen amount included $27 million in stablecoins plus roughly $2 million in World Liberty tokens.

Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly $200 million in funds, Yi said, according to Daily Maverick. Ripple's senior vice president of stablecoins, Jack McDonald, said his firm was watching reports of a possible Binance exploit and was locking down affected funds while coordinating with relevant parties.

Market Reaction and Industry Impact

The news of the possible hack sent Bitcoin's value tumbling by 3.2% on Thursday evening, dropping below $79,000, Deutsche Welle reported. During early Asian trading on Friday, Bitcoin slid roughly 2% to $77,646, its weakest level in six weeks, while ether declined about 2% to $2,238.76, a two-month low, Daily Maverick reported.

BNB, originally created as Binance Coin and usable for paying fees on the exchange, fell over 8% in the past 24 hours to $694, according to market aggregator CoinGecko, Daily Maverick reported. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global slid 4.8% while shares of bitcoin buyer Strategy fell nearly 6% in extended US trading.

"The rumored Binance hack is definitely driving down coin prices," said Fredrick Collins, who leads crypto data platform Velo Data as chief executive and co-founder, according to The Business Times. Collins added that Binance is such a large presence in crypto that any hit to confidence in the exchange is a hit to confidence in the industry as a whole.

Arkham chief executive Miguel Morel said blockchain data pointed to billions of dollars seemingly being stolen from Binance by an unidentified party, though the precise cause remained unconfirmed, Daily Maverick reported. Morel said the incident began around 4:30 p.m. EDT and appeared to be ongoing.

Largest Crypto Theft on Record

Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs said North Korea was behind the heist, which it called "the largest crypto theft on record," according to The Business Times. "TRM attributes the attack to TraderTraitor, North Korea's elite hacking unit, based on robust on and off-chain intelligence," the firm said.

Before now, the biggest publicly known crypto hack occurred at exchange Bybit in February 2025, in which attackers made off with almost $1.5 billion of tokens, The Business Times reported. Last year, attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks, according to researchers at TRM Labs, Daily Maverick reported.

The hackers appear to have exploited how Binance authorizes transactions, according to TRM, The Business Times reported. They seemingly gained access to the exchange's systems and used internal software to authorize transfers across 10 different blockchains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Binance has more than 335 million registered users globally and had about $160 billion in assets under custody as of the exchange's 2024 annual report, Daily Maverick reported. Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident.

Conclusion

Binance said Thursday it was investigating a potential security breach with an estimated $6.3 billion impact, and that it had frozen about $3 billion in assets so far. The company said it would cover all losses and that user funds remained safe. Binance said it would resume withdrawals once the issue was fully resolved and would publish a detailed post-mortem once the investigation was complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much was frozen in the Binance hack?

Binance said about $3 billion in assets had been frozen so far in response to the suspected hack, according to Deutsche Welle and Yahoo Finance. The exchange initially confirmed $2.54 billion had been frozen before revising the figure to around $3 billion, The Tribune reported. Binance said the amount could increase as it worked with law enforcement and industry partners.

What caused the Binance security breach?

Binance said its initial investigation suggested the incident may involve a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop, which allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions, according to Deutsche Welle and PCMag Middle East. The company said it found no evidence of any wallet private key leak.

Will Binance cover losses from the hack?

Binance co-founder Yi He said the company would cover all hacking losses, according to Daily Maverick and Deutsche Welle. Binance said customer funds are covered, including by its Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, an emergency insurance fund established in 2018 and generally maintained at around $1 billion, PCMag Middle East and The Business Times reported.

How did the Binance hack affect Bitcoin prices?

The news sent Bitcoin's value down 3.2% on Thursday evening, dropping below $79,000, Deutsche Welle reported. In early Asian trading on Friday, Bitcoin fell about 2% to a six-week low of $77,646 and ether dropped around 2% to a two-month low of $2,238.76, Daily Maverick reported. BNB was down more than 8% at $694.

Who is behind the Binance hack?

Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs said North Korea was behind the heist, which it called the largest crypto theft on record, according to The Business Times. TRM attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, North Korea's elite hacking unit, based on robust on and off-chain intelligence. Binance said the exact cause had not been confirmed.