Binance investigates potential multibillion-dollar hack after suspicious Ethereum wallet transfers

Binance said it is reviewing a potential security breach after suspicious transfers from one of its Ethereum wallets, while Tether and Circle reportedly froze nearly $1.8 billion in stablecoins. For PSPs and exchanges, the immediate question is the same one that always shows up after a wallet incident: whether user funds are at risk, and how fast the issuer side can freeze exposed assets.

1. Binance told Cointelegraph on Thursday that it was investigating reports of a potential security issue, but had not confirmed any impact on user funds. The exchange said its security teams were reviewing the activity and would provide updates once more information was verified.
2. Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao said the activity appeared to be a hack. He added that Tether and Circle had frozen approximately $971 million and $823 million, respectively, and said he expected all user funds to be fully covered.
3. The concerns were first raised by blockchain researcher Spreek, who posted on X that assets from a Binance-linked Ethereum wallet had been transferred to a newly created address through a contract call allegedly funded by Tornado Cash. Spreek later reported that wallets connected to the transfers had begun selling Tether (USDT) through decentralized exchanges.
4. Zhao said he no longer manages the exchange, but his comments are still the market signal here: in a large exchange incident, the practical response is not just internal containment, but coordination with stablecoin issuers that can freeze assets before they move further through the chain.