Binance hack update: Tether and Circle freeze $2.3B in stablecoins, Binance says user funds are safe

29 Oct 2026

29 Oct 2026, 22:40 UTC+01:00

Exchanges TradeReviewed News Desk

Binance has broken its silence on Thursday’s massive wallet outflows. In a statement on X, the exchange said its teams are “aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating,” and in its latest edit added that “user funds are completely safe,” according to the official Binance post. Former CEO Changpeng Zhao went further, writing that “it does look like a hack on Binance” in a post on X.

The update follows our earlier report on the $2 billion hot wallet outflow to an address funded through Tornado Cash.

Stablecoin issuers freeze more than $2.3 billion

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said Tether froze more than 1.567 billion USDT “related to a potential Binance exchange hack,” in a post on X. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said Circle, “in coordination with law enforcement,” had frozen more than 800 million USDC associated with the incident, per his statement. Earlier, Tether’s first freeze was put at about $971 million, and alert feeds flagged roughly $820 million in USDC still sitting unfrozen in the attacker’s wallet before Circle acted.

Zhao thanked both issuers, calling the Tether freeze a “life saver.” He also wrote that he no longer manages Binance.com but, as a shareholder, expects “all user funds will be fully covered.”

How big is the outflow?

The total keeps growing as analysts trace more chains. As of 21:22 UTC, on-chain checks cited by BWEnews identified about $5.643 billion in related outflows from Binance-labeled wallets: $3.528 billion on Ethereum, $1.449 billion on Bitcoin, $628 million on Tron and about $38 million across Arbitrum, Optimism and Base. These are third-party estimates, and Binance has not confirmed any figure, how the wallets were accessed, or whether this was a theft.

What it means for traders

• Frozen stablecoins cannot be moved by the attacker, which caps part of the potential loss. Ether, Bitcoin and Tron assets cannot be frozen the same way, so watch for those funds being swapped or bridged.
• Expect volatility and possible deposit or withdrawal pauses on Binance while it investigates. Act on official Binance channels, not screenshots or rumors.
• Keeping funds on more than one exchange limits single-venue risk. Compare security, proof of reserves and fees in our crypto exchange comparison, and see our BingX review (ranked number 1) and OKX review (number 2).

This is a developing story. For information only, not investment advice.

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Related reviews

• Bingx review
• Okx review

Sources

• Binance on X: Statement on potential security issue
• Changpeng Zhao on X: It does look like a hack on Binance
• Paolo Ardoino (Tether) on X: Tether froze more than 1.567B USDT
• Jeremy Allaire (Circle) on X: Circle has frozen more than 800M USDC
• BWEnews: On-chain checks: $5.643B outflows from Binance-labeled wallets

News is for information only and is not financial advice. More crypto news