Tether freezes $971M USDT amid suspected Binance hack as crypto sells off - investingLive
Tether has frozen $971 million in USDT after on-chain data showed about $2.77 billion leaving Binance wallets across five blockchains late on 29 October, according to newswire headlines.
Binance has not issued an official statement, and a breach has not been confirmed.
The outflow was first reported by market news account Walter Bloomberg on X, who described it as a suspected hack.
On-chain data from Etherscan shows two large transfers to a single new address, one from a wallet labelled Binance 14.
Crypto selloff hits leveraged traders
The reports triggered a broad sell-off in the crypto market.
Bitcoin fell to about $78,900, while ether dropped about 4% to around $2,257.
BNB was hit hardest among the large caps, sliding almost 7% to near $700.
XRP and Solana each lost more than 5%.
Long positions took the damage, so the drop looks driven by forced selling more than by fresh shorts, and that can reverse quickly if the scare fades.
Liquidations and unverified claims
CoinGlass data cited by Crypto News Flash showed about $620 million in liquidations in one hour, roughly 97% of them long positions.
The 24-hour total reached about $951 million.
Some on-chain investigators have claimed the receiving address was funded through Tornado Cash, a crypto mixing service.
That link has not been independently verified, and no blockchain security firm has publicly tied the transfers to theft.
Tether's largest freeze
Tether has frozen $971 million in USDT, which would be one of the largest freezes the stablecoin issuer has carried out.
It is nearly three times the $344 million it froze with US authorities in April.
Tether can blacklist addresses through a function built into the USDT smart contract, which blocks the frozen tokens from moving.
That only covers USDT, though. Any ether, USDC or other tokens in the flow sit outside Tether’s reach.
A freeze does not automatically return funds to their owners.
Uncertainty and next steps
There is a credible innocent explanation, which is why caution is warranted.
Large exchanges regularly shuffle funds between hot and cold wallets.
In February, Binance disputed viral claims of $10 billion to $17 billion in withdrawals, saying third-party data contained discrepancies.
A Tether freeze of this size, however, is harder to square with a routine reshuffle.
The key swing factor is Binance’s silence. Confirmation of a breach would likely deepen pressure on BNB and on confidence in exchange custody.
Proof that the funds are still under Binance’s control would remove the catalyst.
Until one or the other happens, expect thin liquidity and headline-driven price swings.
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