World's largest crypto exchange Binance freezes $2.54 billion after suspected hack - The Times of India

The exchange, which has over 300 million registered users, temporarily suspended trading on its Binance Alpha platform as a precaution. It also assured users that their funds remained safe while its teams reviewed the incident.

Stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether also froze assets linked to the breach. Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion, while Circle froze more than $800 million.

Crypto firm Ripple froze around $200 million in funds, and World Liberty Financial, a company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said it had worked with crypto custodian BitGo to freeze funds stolen in the incident.

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the company, said in a post on X that the incident "looked like a hack." The exchange said the amount frozen could increase as it worked with law enforcement agencies, token issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and other industry partners to trace and freeze more assets.

Arkham CEO Miguel Morel said data suggested that billions of dollars may have been stolen by an unknown attacker. The incident began around 4:30 pm EST and appeared to be ongoing.

Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident. Coinbase also said it was unaffected and was monitoring the situation.

The incident adds to a series of cryptocurrency thefts. Attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency in nearly 150 attacks last year, according to researchers at TRM Labs. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said around $350 million worth of crypto had been stolen from its platform.

Authorities have warned that organised crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to move money across borders outside the traditional financial system. Binance allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets and has around $160 billion in assets under custody, according to its 2024 annual report.

In a separate incident on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading following a security issue involving a third-party provider. Trading later resumed, and the company said it would fully reimburse affected traders.