Binance Says It Is Investigating Potential Security Issue as Firms Freeze Over $2.38 Billion in Stablecoins

Binance – the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – said on Oct. 29 it was actively investigating a potential security issue, according to a statement the company posted on X ^[1].

Binance did not provide further details about the nature of the potential security issue in its initial statement. The company’s announcement did not confirm whether any funds had been stolen or whether customer accounts were affected.

Binance Statements and Co-Founder Comments

The exchange’s statement did not identify affected accounts or specify which systems might have been compromised. The company characterized the matter as a potential security issue rather than a confirmed breach.

But according to Binance co-founder Yi He, cryptocurrency company Ripple froze roughly $200 million in digital tokens ^[1]. The statement on X attributed to He did not elaborate on Ripple’s role in the matter or the circumstances that led to the freeze. Ripple, which issues the XRP cryptocurrency, was not immediately available for additional comment in the report.

Changpeng Zhao, another Binance co-founder, also triggered speculation with his comments. In a post on X, he wrote that the incident involving the company he no longer manages “looked like a hack” ^[1].

Zhao’s statement was among the first public comments from a Binance founder acknowledging the possibility that the exchange had been compromised. The statements attributed to Binance and its co-founders did not confirm the scope of any breach or identify affected accounts.

Stablecoin Issuers Freeze Funds

The freeze represented the largest single action by a stablecoin issuer in connection with the incident. Tether’s token, USDT, is widely used across cryptocurrency trading platforms as a dollar-pegged asset.

Jeremy Allaire, founder and CEO of stablecoin firm Circle, also took to X regarding the matter. He wrote that his company is closely monitoring reports of a potential incident involving Binance, adding that Circle will continue supporting the probe on it. Allaire’s statement did not specify the amount frozen by Circle or the accounts involved.

Circle issues the USDC stablecoin, another major dollar-pegged token used in cryptocurrency markets. The reported freezes by Tether and Circle totaled more than $2.38 billion. The combined actions by the two issuers represented an effort to prevent the movement of funds that might have been obtained through the alleged security breach.

The reported freeze by Ripple of about $200 million was described separately by He and was not included in the $2.38 billion total attributed to Tether and Circle.

Exchange Scale and Supporting Context

The exchange’s scale has made it a central institution in the cryptocurrency market and a significant holder of customer assets. The potential security issue at Binance follows a history of security breaches at cryptocurrency exchanges.

In May 2016, a company called GateCoin was hacked and 250 bitcoins and 185,000 Ethereum were stolen, according to Boris Weiser’s book on cryptocurrency technologies ^[2]. GateCoin was one of the first regulated cryptocurrency exchanges at the time and its fame made it a prime target for hackers, who gained access to user wallets and stole cryptocurrencies valued at 2 million dollars ^[2]. After that, GateCoin never recovered ^[2].

In 2017, 4,736 bitcoins were stolen from a company called NiceHash, a cryptocurrency mining marketplace ^[2].

Officials did not say whether the potential issue involved customer funds, internal systems or another part of the exchange. The statements described in the report left open the possibility that the incident involved third-party services or counterparties rather than the exchange’s own infrastructure.

Conclusion

The exchange did not provide a timeline for completing the review or additional details about the nature of the potential security issue. Tether reported freezing nearly $1.57 billion, while Circle reported freezing over $800 million. No confirmation of the cause or full scope of the potential security issue was provided in the statements described by the report.

References

1. Binance founder says crypto exchange may have been hacked — leading to firms freezing over $2B. https://nypost.com/2026/10/29/business/binance-founder-says-crypto-exchange-may-have-been-hacked/
2. Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Technologies: Bitcoin Mining, Blockchain Basics And Cryptocurrency Trading & Investing For Beginners | 7 Books In 1. Weiser, Boris

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