ABU DHABI/BEIJING, Oct 29 — Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said that US$2.54 billion (RM10.27 billion) in crypto assets have been frozen as it investigated a potential security breach, with stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether freezing related assets.
"Binance will cover all hacking losses," its co-founder Yi He said.
The amount frozen could increase as it works with law enforcement agencies, token issuers, blockchain intelligence firms, and other industry partners to trace and freeze additional assets.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the company, said that the incident "looked like a hack."
Tether said it had frozen nearly US$1.57 billion (RM6.35 billion) in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than US$800 million (RM3.23 billion).
Binance said it is conducting security checks and would resume withdrawals once it fully resolves the issue, adding that user funds remained safe and that teams were reviewing the incident.
The exchange also temporarily suspended trading on its Binance Alpha platform as a precaution.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to United States President Donald Trump and his family, said it had worked with cryptocurrency custodian BitGo to freeze funds stolen in what it described as a Binance hack.
Yi He said US$27 million (RM109.1 million) in stablecoins and about US$2 million (RM8.09 million) worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen.
He noted that Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly US$200 million (RM808.5 million) in funds. Its senior vice president of stablecoins Jack McDonald said the company is closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance and is freezing affected funds and coordinating with relevant parties.
Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham's chief executive officer Miguel Morel said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor, though the exact cause had not been confirmed. The incident began around 4.30pm EST and appeared to be ongoing.
The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. According to researchers at TRM Labs, attackers stole US$2.9 billion (RM11.72 billion) worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks last year. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said roughly US$350 million (RM1.41 billion) in crypto had been stolen from its platform, underscoring the industry's vulnerability to hackers.
Authorities have warned that organised crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders outside the traditional financial system.
According to its 2024 annual report, Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has more than 300 million registered users globally and about US$160 billion (RM646.8 billion) in assets under custody.
Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident.
Coinbase said it was unaffected and was monitoring the situation.
In an unrelated incident earlier on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading after a security incident involving a third-party provider. It later resumed trading and said it would fully reimburse affected traders.
