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Technology · Global

Tether and Circle freeze $1.79 billion after possible Binance hack

Binance said hackers stole about $5.912 billion, while Tether and Circle froze cryptocurrency assets and Binance reported that more than $2.5 billion had been frozen. Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals for security checks and said it would cover all losses.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 6 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 3 of 6 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 9 entries
6 outlets3 regionsLatest reporting 3 min readNo new reporting in 5 days
Coverage: Center OnlyL 0 · C 5 · R 0 · 1 unrated
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Photo: Bretwa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What happened

Key facts

  • Binance said it had been hacked and reported that more than US$2.5 billion in funds had been frozen.
  • Chainalysis estimated that about US$5.912 billion was stolen at the time of the hack.
  • Binance said deposits and withdrawals were temporarily suspended while it conducted security checks and worked to freeze funds with law enforcement.
  • Binance said it would cover all losses, while also stating that user funds were safe.
  • Binance said it was working with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and freeze more assets.
  • Binance said it was investigating reports of a possible security issue and had not officially acknowledged a breach.
  • Binance said user funds were safe and urged users to avoid unofficial links, messages and requests for account information.
  • Changpeng Zhao said he no longer manages Binance and, as a shareholder, expected user funds to be fully covered.

The brief

Binance reported a major hack, while blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated that about US$5.912 billion was stolen. Binance said more than US$2.5 billion had been frozen. Tether and Circle also froze assets, and Binance’s reported frozen-funds figure was US$2.54 billion. The accounts describe different stages of the incident’s public characterization.

News.liga.net reported that Binance was investigating suspicious transfers and had not officially acknowledged a breach. CNA reported that Binance later said it had fallen victim to a major hack. The reports do not give a detailed account of the transfers or identify how the attackers accessed Binance’s systems.

CNA said Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while its team conducted security checks, froze funds and worked with law enforcement. Binance said it was coordinating with law enforcement, cryptocurrency issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and freeze additional assets.

Those steps connect the reported hack to the immediate effort to limit the amount that could be moved and to identify recoverable funds. Binance said user funds were safe and that it would cover all losses. CNA described the company’s messages on X as sometimes contradictory: the assurance about user funds appeared alongside the promise to cover losses.

Chainalysis’s estimate of the stolen amount was substantially higher than the amount Binance said had been frozen, but the sources do not establish the final losses or how much of the frozen cryptocurrency can be returned. News.liga.net reported that Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s co-founder, said he no longer managed the exchange and expected user funds to be fully covered.

That account also said Binance urged users to avoid unofficial links, messages and requests for account information. These warnings addressed the risk of scammers exploiting attention around the suspected breach.

The reported figures vary in scope: Chainalysis estimated the amount stolen at about US$5.912 billion, while Binance reported more than US$2.5 billion frozen and CNA’s headline gave that figure more precisely as US$2.54 billion. InvestingLive likewise cited the Chainalysis estimate and the US$2.54 billion frozen figure.

Those figures do not by themselves establish the amount ultimately unrecovered; the sources offer no final accounting of losses or recoveries. The central next step is whether Binance and its partners can trace and freeze additional assets and whether the exchange can substantiate its assurances about customer funds.

The sources identify law enforcement, issuers and blockchain intelligence firms as participants in that work, but do not report a final outcome of the investigation.

Why it matters

  • Binance customers face the direct risk addressed by the exchange’s promise to cover losses and its assurance that user funds are safe; Binance also temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals during security checks.
  • The amount Chainalysis estimated stolen—about US$5.912 billion—exceeds Binance’s reported US$2.54 billion frozen, leaving a substantial gap between the reported theft estimate and funds said to be frozen.
  • Tether and Circle froze assets, while Binance said it was coordinating with issuers, law enforcement and blockchain intelligence firms to trace and freeze more cryptocurrency.

What to watch next

  • Whether Binance, law enforcement and blockchain intelligence firms trace and freeze additional assets.
  • Whether Tether and Circle freeze further assets connected to the reported hack.
  • Whether Binance provides a final accounting of losses and frozen or recovered funds.
  • Whether Binance’s assurances that user funds are safe and that it will cover all losses are reflected in its handling of customer funds.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
6 source articles · 6 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Center Only· 5 Center · 1 unrated
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 33% · Europe 33% · Other 34%
Outlet political mix
Center Only
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
5 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
6 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (5 of 5 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

2 framing differences · 2 uncorroborated claims · 3 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 3 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 3 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • News.liga.net describes Binance as investigating a possible security issue and says the exchange had not officially acknowledged a breach; CNA reports that Binance said it had been hacked.
  • News.liga.net attributes a statement that Binance was likely hacked to Changpeng Zhao, while CNA reports Binance itself saying it had been hacked.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Binance said user funds were safe and that it would cover all losses.
  • Changpeng Zhao said he no longer managed Binance and expected user funds to be fully covered.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not explain how the attackers accessed the platform or provide details about the transfers.
  • The sources do not provide a final accounting of customer losses, recoveries or the disposition of frozen assets.
  • The sources do not establish the final amount stolen, the final amount recoverable, or the method used to access Binance’s systems.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Chainalysis was founded as a blockchain analytics firm.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. Mt. Gox disclosed that about 850,000 bitcoin were missing and filed for bankruptcy.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Binance launched in July 2017, as cryptocurrency trading increasingly took place through centralized exchanges that held customers’ assets.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. Binance said at the time that its Secure Asset Fund for Users, established in 2018, would cover the losses.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. Circle launched the USDC stablecoin.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Binance itself suffered a major breach on May 7, 2019, when attackers took about 7,000 bitcoin, then worth roughly US$40 million.
    Background · from our historical context
  7. In June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force adopted guidance applying anti-money-laundering standards to virtual-asset service providers, including exchanges.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in the United States to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program and agreed to step down as Binance chief executive.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  9. The closest precedent was the Bybit exchange theft on February 21, 2025, when roughly US$1.5 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen; investigators attributed the operation to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

The closest precedent was the Bybit exchange theft on February 21, 2025, when roughly US$1.5 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen; investigators attributed the operation to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Binance itself suffered a major breach on May 7, 2019, when attackers took about 7,000 bitcoin, then worth roughly US$40 million.

Binance said at the time that its Secure Asset Fund for Users, established in 2018, would cover the losses. Binance launched in July 2017, as cryptocurrency trading increasingly took place through centralized exchanges that held customers’ assets. The 2014 collapse of Tokyo-based Mt.

Original sources

2 of 6 articles · US/Canada · Show all

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