The Binance hack that came to light late on Thursday, October 29, 2026, could be the largest theft the crypto industry has ever seen. Analysts tracked close to $5.9 billion in suspicious outflows from wallets linked to the world’s biggest exchange. Binance has paused deposits and withdrawals, says user funds are safe and has pledged to cover all losses.
Why it matters
Binance held about $144 billion in assets before the incident, so losses anywhere near the outflow estimates would put real pressure on the world’s largest crypto exchange. If the higher estimates are confirmed, the theft would be more than triple the roughly $1.5 billion Bybit hack of February 2025, the previous record.
What we know about the Binance hack
The first visible move came at 20:24 UTC, when an unknown attacker emptied a hot wallet labeled “Binance 14” in a single Ethereum transaction. According to cryptonews.net, it sent 167,464 ETH and 63 tokens to an address Etherscan now tags as “Binance Hot Wallet Exploiter 2.” About two minutes later, 28,005.6 ETH left the “Binance 16” wallet. The attacking address had received 0.1 ETH from the Tornado Cash mixer on October 28.
Glassnode data cited by U.Today shows the outflows ran in sequence across several chains, starting with XRP, then SOL, then BTC. The largest transfers included roughly $1.66 billion in USDT, 17,985 BTC (about $1.45 billion) and $767 million in USDC, with ETH and TRX also hit. Binance’s BNB balance wasn’t touched.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s co-founder and former CEO, posted on X at 21:15 UTC that “it does look like a hack on Binance.” He said he no longer runs the exchange but, as a shareholder, expects user funds to be fully covered. Binance’s own first statement followed at 21:24 UTC and said only that teams were investigating.
Binance told TechCrunch in a statement that user funds are “completely safe,” and spokesperson Ross O’Leary said withdrawals had been suspended on multiple networks as a precautionary measure. The exchange then halted all deposits and withdrawals and paused trading on Binance Alpha. Binance.US, the separate American platform, said it wasn’t affected.
Freezes by Tether, Circle and Ripple
Stablecoin issuers moved fast. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company froze more than 1.567 billion USDT, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said over $800 million in USDC was frozen in coordination with law enforcement. On-chain data cited by The Block put the combined Tether and Circle freeze at $1.79 billion. Aave also froze lending markets to stop the attacker from borrowing.
Binance co-CEO Yi He thanked Ripple for freezing about $200 million. Binance put the verified total of frozen funds at $2.54 billion and warned the number could rise as the investigation continues.
What is still unclear
It remains unclear who carried out the attack, and none of the reports reviewed explain how the hot wallets were compromised. The final loss is also open. One analyst estimated about $1 billion in exposure remained after the freezes, but Zhao acknowledged actual losses could be higher.
Binance hack estimates vary by source
| Source | Estimate | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Analysts via U.Today | Close to $5.9 billion | Glassnode initially flagged $5.3 billion |
| Arkham via CoinDesk | More than $5.7 billion | Nearly $1.5 billion BTC, $900 million ETH |
| Decrypt on-chain tally | At least $5.57 billion | $3.51 billion Ethereum, $1.44 billion BTC (18,270 BTC), $630 million Tron |
| Taylor Monahan | Over $2 billion, possibly $5.5 billion | Security researcher estimate |
| Wall Street Journal | At least $1.7 billion | Amount hackers appeared to have taken |
These are outflow estimates, not a loss figure confirmed by Binance. Even the bitcoin count differs: U.Today reported 17,985 BTC, while Decrypt counted 18,270 BTC. There’s also no timeline for when withdrawals will resume beyond Binance’s statement that they will return once the issue is fully resolved.
How markets and analysts reacted
The broader crypto market fell after the suspected breach. According to U.Today, Bitcoin briefly dipped below $79,000, Ethereum fell below $2,300, and BNB dropped about 7% during the initial response. Of the five large tokens tracked below, XRP and BNB posted the steepest 24-hour losses by early Friday, with Solana close behind.
| Asset | Price (Oct 30, 01:13 UTC) | 24h change | 24h low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $77,044 | -4.74% | $76,776 |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $2,215.22 | -5.52% | $2,201.30 |
| BNB | $700.19 | -7.16% | $682.36 |
| XRP | $1.22 | -7.62% | $1.20 |
| Solana (SOL) | $94.41 | -7.01% | $92.64 |
Source: CoinGecko. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 30 (“Fear”) on October 30.
Blockaid CEO Ido Ben-Natan called it “the biggest crypto hack in history,” CoinDesk reported. Whether it truly sets a record depends on the final loss figure, which Binance has not yet confirmed. The drop also came against a weak longer-term backdrop. As of the same CoinGecko snapshot, BTC was down 29.91% and XRP down 52.07% over one year, and both were lower over 30 days as well.
What it means for investors
For now, Binance customers can’t move funds off the platform. The exchange says it will cover all losses. Its SAFU emergency fund, created in 2018 and used to repay the 7,000 BTC stolen in 2019, holds about $1 billion in bitcoin, investinglive noted. Losses near the higher estimates would have to come from Binance’s own balance sheet.
The incident is a reminder of custody risk: crypto held on any exchange depends on that firm’s security and solvency. Readers who want to judge an exchange’s reserves can compare its disclosures, such as those in exchange proof of reserves reports, and follow broader stress among crypto exchanges in 2026. Prices can swing sharply in the coming days, and losses in crypto can be total.
Be wary of fake “Binance support” messages or recovery offers after an event like this. No legitimate service will ask for a seed phrase. This article is for information only and isn’t investment advice.
Bottom line
Estimates of the suspected Binance hack range from at least $1.7 billion to close to $5.9 billion in outflows, and $2.54 billion is frozen so far. The next things to watch are Binance’s confirmed loss figure, any attribution of the attacker and the date withdrawals reopen.
Sources
- Massive $5.9 Billion Binance Hack Hits XRP, BTC, ETH and Other Tokens (U.Today)
- Binance Hack: Around $2.8 Billion Drained From a Hot Wallet (cryptonews.net)
- Binance Drained of $5.5 Billion in Suspected Hack, Tether and Circle Freeze $1.8 Billion – Decrypt (decrypt.co)
- Potential multi-billion Binance hack hitting crypto markets (www.coindesk.com)
- Binance pauses withdrawals as hackers suspected of stealing billions in crypto (techcrunch.com)
- Binance investigating hack as suspicious outflows reach up to $5.8 billion (www.theblock.co)
- Binance Hack: CZ Says Exchange Appears Hacked, Assures User Funds Are Safe (www.cryptotimes.io)
- Binance halts deposits and withdrawals, pledges to cover all losses from suspected hack (investinglive.com)
- Binance hacked: Over $5.6 billion in crypto reportedly stolen in what could be the largest-ever exchange heist – Tech Startups (techstartups.com)
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile; always do your own research before investing.
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