Binance Confirms Major Hack as $2.5B+ Frozen; Bitcoin, Ether, BNB Tumble

Binance confirmed a major cyberattack on its platform, saying more than $2.5 billion in assets had been frozen as blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated roughly $5.912 billion was stolen at the time of the theft. The world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume said user funds were "completely safe" and that it would "cover all losses," while announcing at about 0030 GMT Friday that deposits and withdrawals were "temporarily suspended" during security checks and coordination with law enforcement. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said his firm froze about $1.6 billion "related to a potential Binance exchange hack," and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said his company froze more than $800 million in USDC. Former Binance chief Changpeng Zhao, who remains majority shareholder, said it "does look like a hack on Binance" and estimated total losses could be "a bit higher" than $1 billion. Neither the company nor industry observers offered an explanation for how the attack occurred. Major cryptocurrencies fell on the news: at about 0025 GMT, bitcoin lost nearly 5%, Ethereum fell nearly 6% and BNB, native to Binance, tumbled nearly 10%. The DOJ and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.