Binance Investigates Suspicious Transfers of Up to $5.8 Billion; $2.38 Billion Frozen
Key Facts
Binance said it is investigating reports of a potential security issue, without confirming that user funds were affected, while Reuters reported that the platform said their funds are safe. On October 29, 2026, Coinbase analyst Conor Grogan estimated that outflows linked to the activity under investigation could reach $5.8 billion. By contrast, on-chain data showed about $3.55 billion in transfers into an unlabelled wallet, according to The Block. Estimates of frozen assets also differed: Reuters said Circle and Tether had frozen more than $2.38 billion in stablecoins. The transfer figures are not a confirmed estimate of stolen funds, and Binance has not announced any user losses.
Blockaid said it is investigating suspicious transfers of nearly $3.3 billion from Binance hot wallets across Ethereum, Arbitrum and Avalanche. That estimate differs from the $3.55 billion figure for incoming transfers and Grogan’s estimate of up to $5.8 billion in outflows. The figures describe activity and transfer directions observed by different parties; by themselves, they do not prove that the full amounts left Binance’s custody or reached a single party. The Block quoted Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino as saying the company had frozen more than 1.567 billion USDT. Reuters reported that Tether’s share was close to $1.57 billion and that Circle had frozen more than $800 million. Binance co-founder Yi He said Ripple had frozen about $200 million, according to Reuters.
Published freeze estimates do not match exactly: Reuters added the amounts it attributed to Tether and Circle to a total exceeding $2.38 billion, while The Block reported Tether’s figure in USDT. Circle states in its policy that adding an address to the blocklist prevents it from sending or receiving USDC or EURC. The company also says it cannot cancel or recover a completed transfer and may lift a block if the security incident no longer warrants the restriction. The policy explains the limits of a block, but it does not determine the fate of funds linked to the current investigation or confirm that all frozen assets can be recovered. Circle and Binance announced a new five-year commercial agreement on September 22, 2026, focused on expanding access to USDC. Circle said Binance invested $100 million in it, background to their commercial relationship that does not establish a link between the agreement and the freezing measures.
The incident has brought renewed attention to Binance’s disclosed security breach on May 7, 2019, when the platform said hackers withdrew 7000 BTC in a single transaction. Binance said at the time that the affected hot wallet held about 2% of its total BTC holdings and that its other wallets were unaffected. Those details concern the 2019 incident and do not establish a connection to the current investigation. In January 2026, Binance said its Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU, consisted of 1 billion USDC. It added that it retained full discretion to determine which losses and claims qualified for reimbursement from the fund. The fund announcement did not specify whether any losses linked to the current investigation would meet the reimbursement criteria.
The reports coincided with declines in the prices of some digital assets. Bitcoin closed at $78,858.9 on October 29, compared with $81,343.5 the previous day, according to EL7 data. BNB was also down more than 5.5% when The Block published its report on October 29. That reflects market movements coinciding with the reports, but does not prove a breach occurred or establish its financial impact. Binance said it would publish updates through its official channels after verifying the information. The announcement did not give a specific time for the next update.