Amid reports of a possible hack, Binance temporarily suspended trading on the Alpha Trading platform. The company stressed that users' funds remain safe, and trading will resume after the problems are fixed.
According to the exchange, the volume of frozen assets may increase as Binance specialists and law enforcement agencies identify and block additional funds. This is reported by the Associated Press.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao also spoke about the incident.
"It looks like Binance has really been hacked," he wrote on the social network X, adding that users' funds are safe.
According to him, the issuers of stablecoins blocked suspicious assets: Tether - for about 971 million dollars, Circle - about 823 million dollars.
Earlier, CoinDesk reported suspicious transfers from Binance wallets worth about $5.7 billion in various cryptocurrencies. However, this estimate reflects the value of assets at the monitored addresses and does not in itself confirm that the entire amount was stolen.
Subsequently, Binance temporarily suspended deposit and withdrawal operations. The company said it conducts security checks, blocks suspicious assets, and interacts with law enforcement agencies.
The exchange also assured that it will cover all confirmed losses related to the incident.
According to the latest data from Binance, together with its partners, it was possible to freeze about $ 3 billion of affected assets.
Have there been any similar cases?
Major hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges have occurred before. One of the most significant cases in recent years was the attack on Bybit on February 21, 2025, which resulted in the theft of approximately $1.5 billion worth of crypto assets.
The FBI blamed North Korean hackers linked to the TraderTraitor group, which is linked to the Lazarus Group, for this attack. According to the investigation, the attackers were able to interfere in the process of transferring assets between Ethereum wallets.
Prior to that, one of the most famous cases was the theft on the Japanese stock exchange Mt. Gox in 2014. At that time, about 850 thousand bitcoins were lost, which led to the collapse of the site and became one of the most high-profile examples of the risks associated with storing cryptocurrencies on centralized exchanges.
The main difference between the Binance situation and the previously confirmed attacks is that the circumstances of the current incident are still being investigated. The final volume of possible losses and the identity of the alleged attackers have not yet been established. Statements about possible hacking and freezing of assets do not mean that the entire specified amount was stolen.
