Crypto firms freeze $2.54 billion after Binance flags security breach

More than $2.5 billion in cryptocurrency funds were frozen by industry partners as of Thursday evening.

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, announced on Thursday that it is investigating a potential security issue. The company stated that it had not yet explicitly confirmed that funds were stolen, but its teams are working around the clock to resolve the matter. A spokesperson for Binance said in a statement that user funds are completely safe.

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, posted on X that the incident does look like a hack on the platform. Zhao, who no longer manages the company, added that he expects all user funds to be fully covered because he is a shareholder. He noted that his security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency.

Binance suspended all deposits and withdrawals on Thursday while it conducts security checks and works with law enforcement. The company wrote on its X account approximately two hours after its initial disclosure that the verified total of frozen funds reached $2.54 billion. It added that this figure may continue to increase as teams trace and freeze additional assets with the help of issuers and blockchain intelligence firms.

Stablecoin providers Tether and Circle also froze funds in response to the incident. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, stated that his company froze the equivalent of more than $800 million in currency associated with the event in coordination with law enforcement. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said his company froze the equivalent of more than $1.5 billion in currency related to a potential Binance exchange hack.

The price of bitcoin dropped 3.2% on Thursday evening to fall below $79,000. Zhao pleaded guilty to a felony in 2023 related to money laundering on the platform and stepped down as CEO. He was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2025 and was released from prison last year after being sentenced for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Prosecutors described Zhao’s violations as the first time anyone was sentenced to prison time for such breaches of the law.