On a Thursday, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, found itself facing a question every custodian dreads: whether its walls had been breached. Its founder, Changpeng Zhao, a figure whose history with the company is itself a long chapter of scrutiny, said plainly that it looked like a hack, yet no one could yet say how much had been taken, or whether anything had been. What is certain is the scale of the response, as stablecoin issuers and firms moved to freeze more than $2.5 billion in linked funds, a sign of how quickly digital money can be stopped when enough hands reach fo
Binance Probes Suspected Hack as Crypto Firms Freeze $2.54 Billion; Bitcoin Slides Below $79,000
On a Thursday, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, found itself facing a question every custodian dreads: whether its walls had been breached. Its founder, Changpeng Zhao, a figure whose history with the company is itself a long chapter of scrutiny, said plainly that it looked like a hack, yet no one could yet say how much had been taken, or whether anything had been. What is certain is the scale of the response, as stablecoin issuers and firms moved to freeze more than $2.5 billion in linked funds, a sign of how quickly digital money can be stopped when enough hands reach for the brake.
On Thursday, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said it was looking into reports of a possible security breach. Founder Changpeng Zhao went further, saying the incident "does look like a hack on Binance."
The company has not yet confirmed that any money was stolen. Its security teams are reviewing everything with urgency and promise updates through official channels once the facts are verified. By evening, the full damage remained unknown.
What moved fast was the freezing. Firms locked more than $2.5 billion in linked funds, and about two hours after its first statement Binance reported a verified total of $2.54 billion, with more possibly to come as it works with law enforcement and industry partners. Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle accounted for most of it, with Tether freezing over $1.5 billion and Circle more than $800 million.
Bitcoin fell below $79,000 on the news. Zhao, who founded Binance in 2017 and later pleaded guilty to a felony tied to money laundering controls, said he no longer runs the company but, as a shareholder, expects all user funds to be fully covered. That is an expectation rather than a commitment. The key questions now are what Binance's findings show, whether the frozen total keeps rising, and what happens to users' money.
On Thursday, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said it was looking into reports of a possible security breach. Its founder, Changpeng Zhao, offered a blunt assessment of his own: the incident, he said, "does look like a hack on Binance."
What the company has not done is confirm that any money was actually stolen. A spokesperson said security teams were reviewing all relevant information with urgency and that updates would come through official Binance channels once the facts were verified. By Thursday evening, the full extent of any damage remained unclear.
What has been confirmed is the scale of the freezing. Cryptocurrency firms had locked more than $2.5 billion in funds linked to the incident by that evening. About two hours after its first statement, Binance posted on X that the verified frozen total had reached $2.54 billion. The company added that the figure could keep rising as its teams worked with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and freeze more assets.
Two stablecoin providers accounted for most of that total. Circle's CEO and co-founder, Jeremy Allaire, wrote on X that the company had frozen more than $800 million worth of currency linked to the incident, in coordination with law enforcement. Tether's CEO, Paolo Ardoino, said his company had frozen more than $1.5 billion related to what he called a potential Binance exchange hack. Both confirmed their actions on Thursday.
The markets noticed. Bitcoin slid below $79,000 amid concern over the possible hack and what it might cost.
Zhao's role makes his comments notable. He founded Binance in 2017. In 2023 he pleaded guilty to a felony tied to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform, and he stepped down as CEO. President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025. Zhao said he no longer manages the company, but added that "as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered."
That statement is an expectation, not a commitment from Binance itself. The company has said nothing publicly about covering losses, since it has not said whether there were any. The things to watch are Binance's verified findings, whether the frozen total climbs past $2.54 billion, and whether the company confirms theft and what happens to user funds.
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