Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, halted withdrawals on October 29, 2026 after unauthorized transfers drained one of its wallets. On October 30, 2026 it said the breach had an estimated total impact of $6.3 billion, according to Reuters. About $3 billion in affected assets has been frozen so far, and the exchange has pledged to cover all losses. The incident is potentially the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.
Key Takeaways
- A Binance wallet was drained on Ethereum on October 29, 2026, and the exchange suspended deposits and withdrawals while security checks continue.
- Binance estimates the total impact at $6.3 billion, with about $3 billion frozen, while Glassnode's on-chain estimate is $5.3 billion.
- Tether, Circle, Ripple and Arbitrum's Security Council froze funds, but about 195,460 ETH cannot be frozen through token controls.
- Binance pledged to cover all losses, Bitcoin fell to a six-week low of $76,368, and about $628 million in positions were liquidated within one hour.
Wallet Drained on Ethereum
At 20:24 UTC on October 29, 2026, a single transaction moved 167,464 ETH and 63 other tokens from a Binance wallet to a new address, according to CryptoTicker, which put the value leaving on Ethereum at roughly $2.8 billion. Block explorers now label the receiving address Binance Hot Wallet Exploiter 2. About 195,460 ETH moved to another address at 20:39 UTC, and 780 million USDC left a second address linked to the wallet at 20:41 UTC. Binance's official statement followed at 21:24 UTC, one hour after the first transfer, saying it was aware of reports of a potential security issue and was investigating.
Binance Halts Deposits, Withdrawals
Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while security checks are completed, revoked the affected address authorization, and brought in law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover funds, according to a statement the exchange gave ABC News. The exchange also temporarily suspended trading on its Binance Alpha platform as a precaution. Binance said user funds remained safe while its teams reviewed the incident.
Impact Estimates Vary
Binance put the estimated total impact of the incident at $6.3 billion and said about $3 billion had been frozen on-chain so far, according to Bitcoin.com News. Blockchain data provider Glassnode estimated that about $5.3 billion in assets were drained, including $1.66 billion in USDT, 17,985 BTC worth about $1.45 billion and $767 million in USDC, according to Investing.com. Binance did not comment on Glassnode's figure at the time of that report.
Stablecoin Issuers Freeze Funds
Tether froze more than 1.567 billion USDT and Circle froze 823 million USDC linked to the incident, while Arbitrum's Security Council moved 74.56 million ARB and 8,425 ETH into a temporary wallet, according to TokenPost. Funds in that wallet can be moved only through further council action or an Arbitrum DAO vote. Ripple also reportedly froze roughly $200 million, according to ABC News.
Suspected Attack Method
Binance's initial investigation suggests that a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer allowed an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions, according to Reuters. Investigators found no evidence that wallet private keys, the credentials that control digital assets, were exposed. Separately, blockchain records show that an address funded through Tornado Cash delegated contracts on a Binance hot wallet under Ethereum's EIP-7702 standard, which allowed continuous withdrawals without an individual signature for each transaction, according to Crypto Economy.
Funds Still Moving On-Chain
From 21:22 UTC on October 29, 2026, the attacker address began sending out tokens that Tether and Circle cannot freeze, including 88.5 million RLUSD, 7.0 million UNI and 217.5 million ENA, according to CryptoTicker's analysis of Blockscout data. About 195,460 ETH, worth more than $440 million, remained untouched at 22:13 UTC. Native assets such as ETH and BTC cannot be frozen through token-contract controls, the mechanism issuers used to block stablecoins, according to TokenPost.
Crypto Markets Sell Off
Bitcoin fell more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368 in early Asian trading on October 30, 2026, while ether fell more than 3% to $2,178, its lowest level in two months, according to Reuters. Binance's BNB token declined 5% over 24 hours to $709.70, shares of Coinbase Global fell 4.8% in extended U.S. trading, and Strategy dropped nearly 6%. About $628 million in leveraged positions were liquidated within a single hour on October 29, roughly $607 million of them bets on rising prices, according to CryptoTicker, which cited CoinGlass data.
Binance Pledges Full Coverage
Binance said it will cover all losses using its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and company funds, according to Bitcoin.com News. Co-founder Yi He said withdrawals will be enabled as soon as the security scan is complete. Binance also committed to publishing an updated proof of reserves after remediation and a detailed technical post-mortem once the investigation is complete and the facts are fully verified.
