Binance froze withdrawals after reports that a hacker took over $5.7 billion in crypto. If you keep money on an exchange, this is a reminder it can be locked.
Binance, one of the best-known crypto exchanges, stopped withdrawals on Thursday after reports that a hacker drained more than $5.7 billion in cryptocurrency from it. Binance called it a "potential security issue." It says user funds remain safe. Its former CEO said it "does look like a hack." Many details are still missing.
Binance's official X account first acknowledged the problem at 5:15 p.m. ET. That came within minutes of reports that two companies, Tether and Circle, had frozen large amounts of their stablecoins. Stablecoins are digital coins meant to hold a steady value. About $971 million in Tether and $823 million in USD Coin were frozen. Binance later said $2.54 billion in total is frozen, and that number could grow as the stolen assets are traced.
The money was reportedly taken from hot wallets. These are crypto wallets connected to the internet. They are handy for the constant trading an exchange does, but they are less secure than cold wallets, which are kept offline.
As of the report, the apparent hacker's wallet held roughly:
Over a billion more was spread across other coins, including USD Coin, Tron and Solana.
Binance said its security teams are reviewing the issue with urgency and will post verified updates on its official channels. At 6:33 p.m. ET it wrote that withdrawals will resume once the problem is fully resolved and that user funds remain safe. At 7:06 p.m. ET it also suspended Binance Alpha trading. Alpha is a platform that highlights early-stage crypto projects not yet listed on the main exchange.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance's co-founder and former CEO, said he no longer manages Binance.com. As a shareholder, he expects all user funds to be fully covered. That is his expectation, not a promise from the company.
The most exposed are people with money on Binance, including users of Binance Alpha. Holders of Tether and USD Coin are also named in the story because some of those coins were frozen. The material does not say how ordinary holders of those coins are affected. If you do not use Binance, there is nothing to fix. The alert box above lists the steps for those who do.
Few details have been made public. It is not yet clear how the theft happened, how much will be recovered, or when withdrawals will restart. The frozen total may rise as more assets are traced. Scammers often exploit moments like this, so treat any message offering to recover your funds with suspicion.
Binance has paused withdrawals, so follow only its official channels and ignore anyone offering to recover your money.
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