Binance Puts Potential Hack Impact at $6.3 Billion, Freezes $3 Billion

Binance estimated the potential impact of a security incident at about $6.3 billion Thursday, a figure that would rank among the largest losses tied to any exchange breach on record. The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange said it had frozen roughly $3 billion of affected assets on-chain in coordination with blockchain partners.

The company said its initial investigation points to a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop as the entry point, giving an attacker access to a service container used to submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. Binance added that it found no evidence of a wallet private key leak. Deposits and withdrawals were suspended while the company conducts security checks and works with law enforcement.

Changpeng Zhao, who founded Binance in 2017 and stepped down as chief executive in 2023 after pleading guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform, wrote on X that "User funds are safe!" He also wrote that the incident "does look like a hack on Binance." Zhao, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2025 and released from prison last year after being sentenced for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, added: "as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered."

A Binance spokesperson said in a statement that user funds are "completely safe" and that security teams are reviewing relevant information with urgency. Binance said it is working around the clock on the issue and will provide updates through official channels once information is verified. The company said it collaborates with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and freeze additional assets.

Tether and Circle, two major stablecoin providers, each announced freezes Thursday. Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said on X that the company had frozen more than $800 million in currency tied to the incident in coordination with law enforcement. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on X that his firm froze more than $1.5 billion related to "a potential Binance exchange hack."

Bitcoin fell 3.2% Thursday evening to under $79,000. Zhao was the first person sentenced to prison for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires U.S. financial institutions to know their customers, monitor transactions and report suspicious activity. Prosecutors said no one had violated those regulations to the extent Zhao did. Zhao and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family's crypto ventures.