Binance Halts Withdrawals After Suspected Hack as Tether, Circle Freeze More Than $2.38B

Binance has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while investigating a security incident that it estimates had a total impact of around $6.3 billion (£4.70 billion). The cryptocurrency exchange said its preliminary findings suggest a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop may have allowed an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorised withdrawal transactions.

Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle have frozen more than $2.38 billion (£1.78 billion) in assets linked to the incident. Binance said around $3 billion (£2.24 billion) had been frozen on-chain through work with blockchain partners, although the figures do not establish how much cryptocurrency was stolen.

The exchange said it had found no evidence of a wallet private key leak and pledged to cover all losses using its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and company funds. It said the investigation was continuing.

Binance Outlines Possible Cause of Incident

In an update posted on X, Binance said its initial investigation suggested a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer may have allowed an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorised withdrawal transactions.

The exchange stressed that the findings remained preliminary. It did not identify the suspected attacker or confirm the full extent of any losses.

Binance said it had revoked the affected address authorisation and was working with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover assets. Deposits and withdrawals were suspended as a precaution while security checks continued.

The exchange said it would publish a detailed technical post-mortem once the investigation was complete and the facts had been verified. It also plans to publish an updated proof of reserves after remedial work has finished.

Tether and Circle Freeze Billions

Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said his company had frozen more than $800 million (£597.42 million)in USDC associated with the incident, in coordination with law enforcement. Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino separately said his company had frozen nearly $1.57 billion (£1.17 billion) in USDT linked to the suspected attack.

Together, the freezes announced by the two stablecoin issuers exceed $2.38 billion (£1.78 billion). Binance's reported on-chain total of around $3 billion includes assets frozen through cooperation with other blockchain partners.

Binance's estimated $6.3 billion impact figure should not be interpreted as a confirmed theft. The exchange has not disclosed a final loss total, and the investigation is ongoing.

Binance Pledges To Cover Losses

Binance said it would cover all losses arising from the incident using its SAFU fund and company funds. The exchange described the fund as part of its response to protecting users during the incident and said customer funds were safe.

It also said it was working with law enforcement partners to establish the identity of those responsible and recover affected assets. Binance urged customers to rely on official channels for updates and contact customer support with questions.

Bitcoin Falls as Security Concerns Grow

Bitcoin fell 3.2 per cent to below $79,000 (£58,900) on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. The incident has renewed concerns about cryptocurrency exchange security, particularly hot wallets, which remain connected to the internet to facilitate digital asset transfers.

In February 2025, hackers stole approximately $1.5 billion (£1.12 billion) in cryptocurrency from exchange Bybit, one of the largest confirmed cryptocurrency thefts on record.

Binance has yet to publish its full technical findings. The cause of the incident, the final value of any losses and the amount of assets that can be recovered remain subject to the ongoing investigation.