Binance investigating suspected hack as stablecoin firms freeze millions

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 30 Oct, 00:21 · Archive

Binance is investigating a potential security breach; stablecoin providers have frozen over $2.3 billion in funds.

Binance said Thursday it is investigating reports of a potential security issue. Founder Changpeng Zhao posted on X that the incident 'does look like a hack on Binance', though it was unclear immediately how much damage hackers might have accomplished. Binance had not explicitly confirmed that funds had been stolen.

Stablecoin providers moved quickly to protect assets. Circle froze the equivalent of more than $800 million in currency related to the incident 'in coordination with law enforcement', according to CEO Jeremy Allaire. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company froze more than $1.5 billion related to 'a potential Binance exchange hack'.

Binance issued a statement saying 'user funds are completely safe' and that security teams were reviewing information with urgency. Zhao, who no longer manages Binance as CEO, said as a shareholder he expects all user funds to be fully covered. The price of bitcoin dropped 3.2 per cent Thursday evening to below $79,000.

How it is being reported

• Binance reports 'potential security issue' as stablecoin issuers freeze millions in fundsBinance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is investigating a potential security issue that appears to be a hack.Clickorlando · 29 Oct, 23:28
• Binance reports 'potential security issue' as stablecoin issuers freeze millions in fundsBinance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is investigating a potential security issue that appears to be a hack.News4Jax · 29 Oct, 23:28

In this story: Binance · Changpeng Zhao · Tether · Circle · Jeremy Allaire · Paolo Ardoino

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log