Crypto giant Binance freezes $2.5bn of assets over suspected hack

Cryptocurrency giant Binance declared on Thursday that it has frozen digital assets exceeding $2.5bn to safeguard them from potential theft while conducting an investigation into a security concern. The firm announced that all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended during the security checks, and it assures to cover any losses incurred.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who retains a majority ownership stake, confirmed that the incident appears to be a hack. He also revealed that other crypto platforms Tether and Circle have placed approximately $1.7bn in stolen assets under freeze. Jeremy Allaire, Circle's CEO, stated that the company is diligently monitoring reports of a possible exploit related to Binance and has frozen more than $800m in assets connected to the incident.

Circle, which issues and co-created the USDC, a leading US dollar-backed cryptocurrency, has not yet responded to inquiries from the BBC. Binance highlighted that the frozen fund amount may rise as its teams collaborate with law enforcement and other partners to track and seize additional assets. The company stated that it will release a comprehensive post-mortem once the investigation concludes and urged users to seek updates only from official Binance channels, emphasizing that their funds remain secure.

Following the alerts, Bitcoin experienced a decline of around 5%, while the prices of major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Solana also dropped significantly.