Binance investigates suspected crypto hack, estimated at $1.7 billion to $5.7 billion

Outflows from Binance-linked wallets

Blockchain data reviewed by crypto analysts show large transfers leaving wallets tied to Binance from 21:24 Swiss time on Thursday, 29 October. Blick reports that about 167,500 ether, $1.6 billion in USDT and more than 60 other tokens moved from a wallet labelled "Binance 14" to a new address, followed shortly after by $780 million in USDC from a second Binance wallet. Xataka, citing The Information, puts the assets leaving Binance-linked wallets at more than $2 billion. Bloomberg describes the bulk as ether moved to newly created external wallets, drawn from the hot wallets that give the platform its day-to-day liquidity. Blick also reports that the address that began the transfers was funded through Tornado Cash, a service that conceals where crypto funds come from.

Binance's statement and CZ's post

Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs Binance but remains its largest shareholder according to TechCrunch, wrote on X that the exchange appears to have been hacked. He said he expects users' funds to be fully covered, without explaining how. Binance confirmed to TechCrunch that it was dealing with a security incident and had "temporarily suspended withdrawals on multiple networks" as a precaution, a step its spokesperson Ross O'Leary described. In its emailed statement, the exchange said:

“Rest assured that user funds are completely safe.”

Binance had not officially confirmed a hack by the time Blick went to press, and it warned users to avoid scams and unofficial links.

Stablecoin freezes and market reaction

Tether and Circle, the two principal stablecoin issuers, froze funds linked to the incident. Zhao's post credited Tether with freezing about $971 million and Circle with about $823 million, while the chief executives of the two firms put the amounts at $1.567 billion and $800 million, according to El País. Analysts and traders tracking the market estimate that between $1.7 billion and $5.7 billion was taken, and those figures remain unconfirmed. Kevin March, co-founder of JPEG Trading, a firm that closely tracked the hack, said:

“If this happened to any other business in crypto other than Binance, it would've been catastrophic.”

March said the exchange can cover potential losses through its insurance and balance sheet, although wider effects on crypto markets and prices remain possible. Bitcoin fell as much as 3.7% overnight according to La Vanguardia, and Blick reports it dropped below $80,000 while bets on rising prices worth more than $600 million were liquidated within an hour.

Polymarket breach and the wider wave of attacks

Axios places the suspected Binance breach within a wave of high-profile cyberattacks and data breaches during what it calls "Black October". Polymarket confirmed a cyberattack on the same day and paused trading for an hour after an attacker made off with at least $2.7 million in user funds, per Axios, while TechCrunch puts the theft at around $2 million. Researchers at Hudson Rock tied the Polymarket incident to a breach involving DebugBear, a third-party website monitoring tool. On Tuesday, 27 October, Binance said it had fended off several cyberattacks linked to North Korea, Blick reports. Hackers linked to North Korea stole about $1.5 billion from Bybit in 2025 according to Axios, while TechCrunch puts that theft at $1.4 billion, and Blick describes it as the previous largest crypto theft.