Binance halts withdrawals after hackers drain at least $2bn from hot wallets

Binance suspended withdrawals across multiple networks on Thursday after hackers drained funds from its hot wallets, with crypto watchers placing the theft at a minimum of $2 billion and some estimates running as high as $5.7 billion, though neither figure has been confirmed.

The exchange confirmed to journalists that it was "aware of reports of a potential security issue" and was actively investigating. Spokesperson Ross O'Leary said the withdrawal suspension was a precautionary measure. "Rest assured that user funds are completely safe," the company said, without elaborating on how losses would be covered.

Financial technology firm Circle froze approximately $800 million in Tether as it passed through its networks. Tether itself separately froze about $1.56 billion connected to Binance's wallets.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the company but remains its largest shareholder, said on X that a hack had likely occurred and expected user funds to be "fully covered." He did not explain the basis for that claim.

No group has claimed responsibility and Binance said it had not disclosed whether it received any communication from the attackers.

In a separate incident on the same day, prediction market platform Polymarket briefly halted trading after a third-party supplier was compromised. Security researchers put losses from that breach at around $2 million, with a company called DebugBear identified as the compromised software provider.

If Binance's losses are confirmed in the billions, the breach would rank among the largest in cryptocurrency history. The previous single-incident record was set in 2025, when hackers stole $1.4 billion from exchange Bybit in an attack attributed to North Korean actors.