Technology
Hackers Drain Billions From Binance in Massive Cryptocurrency Security Breach
Major stablecoin issuers freeze billions in stolen funds as the world's largest exchange scrambles to address the ongoing crisis.
By Headlinne · Compiled from reporting by TechCrunch, CoinDesk, BBC and 1 other
Hackers stole billions of dollars in digital assets from Binance during a major cyberattack on Thursday, forcing the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange to suspend withdrawals and customer transactions.
The unauthorized transfer began at approximately 4:30 pm EST, draining internet-connected hot wallets that backed customer balances. CoinDesk reported that reserve data showed ether backing fell by about five percent following the theft.
The incident stands as one of the largest cryptocurrency breaches in history, testing the security measures of digital asset exchanges and the ability of issuers to freeze stolen funds.
"It does look like a hack on Binance," said Changpeng Zhao, the founder and largest shareholder of the firm.
Binance officials confirmed that security teams were reviewing the breach with urgency while working with law enforcement agencies and blockchain intelligence firms to trace missing funds.
"Rest assured that user funds are completely safe," Binance said in an emailed statement.
Binance co-founder Yi He stated that the exchange will cover all hacking losses incurred during the breach. CoinDesk reported that the exchange's SAFU emergency fund holds about $1 billion in bitcoin.
Stablecoin issuers moved swiftly to mitigate the damage by blocking addresses connected to the attacker. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said more than 1.56 billion USDT was frozen, while Circle froze more than $800 million in assets.
Additional firms also joined the recovery effort. World Liberty Financial froze $27 million in stablecoins, and Ripple froze around $200 million in funds after coordinating with relevant industry parties.
CoinDesk reported that the attacker utilized an Ethereum feature allowing wallets to hand control to external software, turning a primary reserve wallet into a sweeper that forwarded funds to an unknown address.
While estimates place the total stolen amount at upwards of $5.7 billion, exact figures remain unconfirmed as investigations continue. The BBC reported that Binance froze digital assets worth more than $2.5 billion.
The reports differed on whether withdrawals were fully halted or how much specific issuers froze, with TechCrunch noting that Binance only paused withdrawals on multiple networks.
Binance announced plans to publish its next reserve snapshot on November 1, which will reveal whether the exchange has already replaced the stolen assets.
Reporting from
- TechCrunchNot politically framed
Binance pauses withdrawals as hackers suspected of stealing billions in crypto
- CoinDeskNot politically framed
Binance hack drained wallets backing customer assets, reserve data shows
- BBC NewsNot politically framed
Crypto giant Binance freezes $2.5bn of assets over suspected hack
- Times of IndiaBalanced
World's largest crypto exchange Binance freezes $2.54bn after suspected hack
How this article was made: Headlinne wrote it with AI from the 4 reports listed above. Direct quotes are checked word for word against those reports, every number appears in at least one of them, and no other sentence is copied from one. Photos are from those reports and credited to them. Each report’s page on Headlinne links to the outlet’s original.