Binance may have been hacked. The popular crypto exchange announced a “potential security issue” on Thursday, freezing withdrawals after an apparent hacker drained hot wallets of more than $5.7 billion in cryptocurrency.
The official Binance X account first acknowledged the issue at 5:15 p.m. ET / 2:15 p.m. PT. This came within minutes of reports that digital finance companies Tether and Circle Group had frozen significant amounts of their respective stablecoins in response to a potential hack — specifically about $971 million in Tether and $823 million in USD Coin.
Binance has since stated that a total of $2.54 billion has been frozen, though this number may potentially grow as assets are traced.
“Our teams are aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating,” Binance wrote. “Our security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency, and we will provide updates through official Binance channels as soon as we have verified information.”
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Few details about the hack have been revealed at this stage. As of writing, the ostensible hacker’s wallet currently holds $1.77 billion in Tether, $1.44 billion in Bitcoin, and $1.01 billion in Ethereum, as well as over a billion more spread across other currencies such as USD Coin, Tron, and Solana.
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These assets were reportedly drained from hot wallets: cryptocurrency wallets that are connected to the internet. Compared to offline cold wallets, they are significantly more practical for conducting transactions on exchanges such as Binance. However, they are also less secure.
Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao has stated that it “does look like a hack,” but maintained a positive outlook on the situation.
“I don’t manage Binance (.com) anymore, but as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered,” Zhao wrote on X.
In an update at 6:33 p.m. ET / 3:33 p.m. PT., Binance stated that its team was conducting security checks, and attempted to reassure anxious users.
“Withdrawals will resume as soon as the security issue is fully resolved,” it wrote. “User funds remain safe.”
Binance subsequently announced at 7:06 p.m. ET / 4:06 p.m. PT that it had suspended Binance Alpha trading, which would “resume once the security issue is resolved.” Binance Alpha is a platform dedicated to highlighting early-stage crypto projects, which are not yet listed on the Binance exchange.
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