Binance Halts Withdrawals as Suspected Hack Drains Billions in Crypto

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, confirmed on Thursday that it is dealing with a security incident and has temporarily suspended withdrawals on multiple blockchain networks. Users had reported funds being drained from the exchange's wallets. If a theft in the billions of dollars is confirmed, it could rank among the largest crypto heists on record.

What the exchange says

In a statement sent to TechCrunch, Binance said it was aware of a potential security issue and was actively investigating. The company maintained that user funds are completely safe and promised updates through official channels once information is verified. It urged users to beware of scams and not to trust unofficial links, messages or requests for account details. Spokesperson Ross O'Leary described the withdrawal suspension as a precaution.

Hours earlier, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao wrote on X that the company had likely been hacked. Zhao, who no longer runs Binance but remains its largest shareholder, said he expects users' funds to be fully covered, though he did not explain why.

Scale of the losses

Crypto watchers estimate that at least $2 billion has been taken from Binance's hot wallets, which are internet-connected wallets used to hold crypto. Some estimates put the losses above $5.7 billion, but the figures are unconfirmed and the theft may still be under way. Financial technology company Circle froze about $800 million in Tether passing through its networks, while Tether itself froze roughly $1.56 billion linked to the hack.

It is unclear who is responsible, and Binance did not say whether the attackers had contacted it. For comparison, in 2025 hackers stole a record $1.4 billion in a single breach of the exchange Bybit, which was blamed on North Korean hackers.

A separate incident

Earlier on Thursday, prediction market Polymarket briefly halted trading after confirming that a third-party company had been compromised, which led it to pause withdrawals. Security researchers say attackers stole around $2 million in user funds by compromising software developed by a company called DebugBear. This appears to be a separate incident.