Binance Freezes $3bn as Potential $6.3bn Hack Hits Crypto Markets

Binance says it has located and frozen roughly $3bn of assets tied to a potential $6.3bn security breach — a figure analysts say would make it the largest crypto theft on record. The world's largest crypto exchange has not confirmed that funds were stolen, and it has suspended all deposits and withdrawals while security teams investigate.

"Rest assured that user funds are completely safe," a Binance spokesperson said in a statement. The company added that its teams are "working around the clock" to resolve the issue. Co-founder Yi He said Binance would cover "all hacking losses" — a commitment that leaves roughly $3.3bn in potentially affected assets unaccounted for as of the company's latest update.

By Nathan Brooks

How did the breach happen?

Binance's initial investigation points to a hacked laptop belonging to one of its engineers. According to the exchange, the attacker used that access to breach one of its systems and make unauthorised withdrawals. The company gave no further technical detail.

The scale here matters for context. Binance has 335 million registered users globally and held about $162.8bn in assets under custody as of its 2025 annual report. A $6.3bn loss would represent roughly 4% of that custody book — large enough to strain any exchange's reserves, but a fraction of the headline figure Binance actually guards.

What does this change for markets and users?

Markets moved immediately. In early Asian trading on Friday, bitcoin dropped more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368. Coinbase Global shares slid 4.8%, and shares of bitcoin buyer Strategy fell nearly 6% in extended US trading.

For practitioners, the practical question is whether assets on centralised exchanges remain safe. "It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralised exchanges, as well as counterparty, solvency and liquidity risks," said Tim Sun, senior researcher at Hong Kong-based HashKey Group.

Crypto was already under pressure from higher US interest rates and softer demand from ETF buyers. Analysts said the breach compounds that weakness rather than creating it from scratch.

Industry response and frozen funds

Stablecoin issuers moved fast. Tether froze nearly $1.57bn in assets linked to the incident, and Circle froze more than $800m. World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to Donald Trump and his family, said it worked with custodian BitGo to freeze stolen funds. Binance's Yi He said $27m in stablecoins and about $2m worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen.

If confirmed, the incident would surpass every previous crypto theft. "It's the biggest hack in history," said Aravendo Srinivasan — Aravind Srinivasan, head of large crypto market maker GSR's systematic OTC business. Chainalysis and other industry experts share that assessment.

Zhao's role and Binance's backstop

Changpeng Zhao founded Binance in 2017. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform and stepped down as CEO; Trump pardoned him in 2025. Zhao posted on X on Thursday that "User funds are safe!" but conceded the incident "does look like a hack on Binance." He added: "as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered."

Binance operates a secure asset fund for users — a bitcoin-only reserve designed to protect user assets in cases of security breaches, according to its website. That fund now faces its first serious stress test.

Broader industry context

The incident fits a worsening pattern. Attackers stole $2.9bn in cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks last year, according to TRM Labs. In September, exchange Bitget reported roughly $350m stolen from its platform.

"It's becoming very hard to counter hacks as AI can find vulnerabilities faster than you can fix them," said Bernardo Brites, CEO of Trace Finance. "My view is that users will move away from smaller and medium-sized exchanges, [as it is] becoming too risky to park your money somewhere that couldn't cover a hack of meaningful size."

Binance.US said it was unaffected. Coinbase said it was unaffected and monitoring the situation. Separately on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading after a security incident involving a third-party provider; it has since resumed and promised full reimbursement for affected traders.

Authorities have separately warned that organised crime groups increasingly use cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders outside the traditional financial system.

The next signal to watch: whether Binance accounts for the remaining $3.3bn and actually reopens withdrawals. Either outcome will set the benchmark for how the market prices custody risk on centralised exchanges.