Crypto platform Binance confirms major hack, more than US$2.5bil frozen

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced on Thursday that it had suffered a major hacking incident resulting in the freezing of over US$2.5 billion worth of assets. The world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume confirmed that it had suspended trading on certain products to prevent the stolen funds from being further compromised. However, Binance reassured its users that their funds remained secure.

Several industry experts weighed in on the situation, indicating that the hack likely involved the theft of a significant amount of assets. Former Binance chief Changpeng Zhao, now a majority shareholder, stated that the incident resembled a substantial hack on the exchange. Paola Ardoino, CEO of Tether, the issuer of USDT, reported that his company had frozen approximately US$1.6 billion in relation to the potential Binance hack.

Circle's CEO, Jeremy Allaire, revealed that his firm had frozen more than US$800 million in USDC, another stablecoin.

Word had spread several hours before Binance's official confirmation that hackers had breached the platform. Some observers suggested that this could be the largest cyberattack of its kind, surpassing the US$1.5 billion stolen from the Bybit platform in February 2025, an attack attributed to North Korean-affiliated hackers. Following the news, Bitcoin prices experienced a decline of over 3%.