{
  "id": 17152401,
  "title": "Crypto giant Binance freezes $2.5bn of assets over suspected hack",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/crypto-giant-binance-freezes-2-5bn-of-assets-over-suspected-hack-17152401",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-30T00:59:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BBC Business",
    "slug": "bbc-business",
    "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwg7xp8kx4v5o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "The firm said transactions are suspended while it conducts security checks and will \"cover all losses\".",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 8,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Cointelegraph",
        "title": "Binance files for Brazil crypto license ahead of Friday deadline",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/binance-files-for-brazil-crypto-license-ahead-of-friday-deadline",
        "published": "2026-10-27T08:04:21.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Euromaidan Press",
        "title": "Russian court jails IT company director for 13 years over crypto donations after Binance shared his data, rights group says",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/russian-court-jails-it-company-director-for-13-years-over-crypto",
        "published": "2026-10-27T15:32:02.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "TechCrunch",
        "title": "Binance pauses withdrawals as hackers suspected of stealing billions in crypto",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/binance-pauses-withdrawals-as-hackers-suspected-of-stealing-billions",
        "published": "2026-10-29T22:27:23.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Mashable",
        "title": "Binance has reportedly been hacked, billions in crypto stolen",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/binance-has-reportedly-been-hacked-billions-in-crypto-stolen",
        "published": "2026-10-30T00:19:42.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "DW English (Top Stories)",
        "title": "Binance crypto platform suspends trades amid suspected hack",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/binance-crypto-platform-suspends-trades-amid-suspected-hack",
        "published": "2026-10-30T00:55:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Toronto Sun",
        "title": "Crypto platform Binance confirms major hack, more than $2.5B in funds frozen",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/crypto-platform-binance-confirms-major-hack-more-than-2-5b-in-funds",
        "published": "2026-10-30T02:20:10.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "SCMP Business",
        "title": "Binance pledges to cover losses after US$6 billion crypto hack",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/binance-pledges-to-cover-losses-after-us-6-billion-crypto-hack",
        "published": "2026-10-30T03:26:14.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}