Binance estimates $6.3 billion loss in security breach

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, estimated the financial impact of a security breach at approximately $6.3 billion on Thursday. The company stated that it is investigating reports of a potential security issue and has not yet explicitly confirmed that funds were stolen. A spokesperson said the company's teams are working around the clock to resolve the matter.

In a statement, the company assured users that their funds are completely safe. It added that security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency. The firm promised to provide updates through its official channels once it has verified the details.

Binance posted on X that it has worked with blockchain partners to freeze affected assets. Roughly $3 billion in value has been frozen on-chain so far. The company indicated that its initial investigation suggests the incident may involve a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop. This compromise reportedly allowed an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions.

The exchange noted that it found no evidence of a wallet private key leak. Binance said it will share more technical details when the investigation is complete and the facts are fully verified. Earlier on Thursday, the company wrote that it is working closely with law enforcement, issuers, and blockchain intelligence firms to trace and freeze additional assets.

All deposits and withdrawals on the platform are temporarily suspended. This pause allows the company to conduct security checks and freeze funds while it coordinates with law enforcement. Stablecoin providers Tether and Circle also acted in response to the incident on Thursday.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, wrote on X that the company froze the equivalent of more than $800 million in currency associated with the incident. He stated that this action was taken in coordination with law enforcement. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said on X that his company froze the equivalent of more than $1.5 billion in currency. He described the event as a potential Binance exchange hack.

The price of bitcoin dropped 3.2% on Thursday evening, falling under $79,000. Changpeng Zhao, who founded Binance in 2017, commented on the incident on X. Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to a felony related to failing to prevent money laundering and stepped down as CEO, said user funds are safe. He added that the incident does look like a hack on Binance.

Zhao stated that he no longer manages the company but, as a shareholder, expects all user funds to be fully covered. He was released from prison last year after being sentenced for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was the first person sentenced to prison time for violations of that law. Prosecutors said no one had violated the regulations to the extent Zhao did. President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao in 2025. Zhao and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family's crypto enterprises.