Bitcoin Price Slides Below $79,000 as Binance Loses $5.8 Billion in Massive Hack

The selloff followed reports of heavy outflows from Binance-linked wallets. Social media reports cited suspicious outflows of up to $5.8 billion, with onchain data showing about $3.55 billion in transfers to an unlabeled wallet.

Stablecoin issuers moved quickly to freeze funds. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed the company froze more than 1.567 billion USDT, while Circle froze about $823 million in USDC, according to former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

Binance Response

Binance has made no official confirmation of a breach. Co-founder Yi He wrote on X that the company is aware of reports of a potential security issue and that its security teams are reviewing all relevant information.

Market Impact

Bitcoin is trading at $78,800, down 2.89% (about $2,350) over the past 24 hours. The price hit a 24-hour high of $81,890 before sliding sharply after 4 p.m. ET when rumors of the hack circulated.

Trading volume reached about $26.14 billion, with Bitcoin's market cap standing at roughly $1.58 trillion. Blockchain researcher Spreek flagged the activity, which reportedly included transfers through a contract call allegedly funded by Tornado Cash.

If confirmed, the incident would be the largest crypto theft on record, surpassing the February 2025 Bybit hack of roughly $1.5 billion. Aave reportedly froze lending markets to block the suspected attacker from borrowing.