Binance is investigating a potential security incident as Tether and Circle freeze nearly $1.8 billion in stablecoins and Bitcoin falls below $79,000.
Binance-linked wallets reportedly recorded at least $5.57 billion in outflows across three blockchains on Thursday, raising concerns about a potential security breach at the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Initial reports estimated approximately $2.5 billion in suspicious transfers across five blockchains. Updated onchain data placed the total at $5.57 billion, including $3.51 billion on Ethereum, $1.44 billion in Bitcoin and $630 million on Tron.
If confirmed as a theft, the incident would surpass the approximately $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025 to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange hack on record.
Crypto researcher Spreek raised concerns that funds from a Binance-linked wallet may have been transferred to a newly created externally owned account, potentially indicating unauthorized activity.
Onchain transaction data showed that an Ethereum transfer at approximately 20:24 UTC involved 167,464 ETH and 63 token transfers, including roughly 1.6 billion USDT.
Security researchers also identified a potentially suspicious EIP-7702 delegation linked to an address funded through Tornado Cash shortly before the transfers.
The mechanism allows externally owned Ethereum accounts to execute delegated smart contract code, although the circumstances surrounding the authorization remain unclear.
Bitcoin briefly fell below $79,000 after trading above $80,800 earlier in the session as reports of the suspected incident circulated. Several Binance users also reported difficulties withdrawing funds from the exchange.
In a post on X, Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao said the activity appeared to be a hack, adding that Tether and Circle had frozen approximately $971 million in USDT and $823 million in USDC, respectively.
“User funds are safe!” Zhao wrote. “It does look like a hack on Binance.”
Zhao also said he no longer manages Binance but expects all customer funds to be covered as a shareholder.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire subsequently confirmed on X that the company had frozen more than $800 million in USDC associated with the potential incident.
“Circle is closely tracking reports of a potential exploit involving Binance,” Allaire said, adding that the company was coordinating with law enforcement.
Binance addressed the reports in a statement on X, confirming that its security teams were investigating the suspected incident.
“Our teams are aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating. At this stage, we have not confirmed any impact to user funds,” Binance said.
The exchange added that it would provide updates through official channels once its security teams verified the information, while warning customers to avoid suspicious links and requests for account information.
Binance has yet to confirm that a security breach occurred or establish whether the reported wallet movements represent stolen funds.
This is a developing story.
