EL7.AI
CryptoHigh Impact•29 October 2026•
4 min read

Binance transfers estimated at $5.6 billion as more than 1.567 billion USDT frozen

Key Facts

1CZ estimated Tether's initial freeze at about $971 million in USDT and Circle's freeze at about $823 million in USDC.
2A later update said Tether had frozen more than 1.567 billion USDT linked to a potential hack.
3Initial reports estimated outflows at about $2.77 billion across five chains, describing wallet movements rather than confirmed losses.
4An on-chain monitor estimated transfers at $3.528 billion on Ethereum, $1.449 billion on Bitcoin, $628 million on Tron, and a combined $38 million on Arbitrum, Optimism and Base.
5Binance said it had not confirmed any impact on user funds and was investigating reports of a potential security issue.

Binance said it was investigating reports of a potential security issue, without confirming any impact on user funds, while initial reports estimated outflows at about $2.77 billion across five chains. A later estimate put transfers attributed to the exchange at more than $5.6 billion, but Binance did not confirm the scale of the losses. Its co-founder CZ said the movements looked like a hack, adding that user funds were safe. His description remains a personal view: he said he no longer runs Binance.com and that he expected user funds to be fully covered. Tether later announced that it had frozen more than 1.567 billion USDT linked to a potential hack of the exchange. Estimates of transfers and frozen amounts varied across updates, making them figures in circulation rather than a final tally of confirmed losses.

In his initial post, CZ estimated that Tether had frozen about $971 million in USDT and Circle about $823 million in USDC. A later update then cited Tether's chief executive as saying the company had frozen more than 1.567 billion USDT linked to the potential incident. The difference between the figures reflects the timing and source of the update; the initial estimate therefore does not represent a final total for the freeze. The freezes concern USDT and USDC, which their issuers can place on blocklists. That does not extend to ETH and BTC, as stablecoin issuers have no mechanism to freeze those assets. Circle said a completed transfer cannot be reversed, and that placing an address on a blocklist may prevent USDC from being sent from or received by it.

An on-chain monitor provided detailed estimates of transfers by network: $3.528 billion on Ethereum, $1.449 billion on Bitcoin and $628 million on Tron. It estimated transfers across Arbitrum, Optimism and Base combined at about $38 million. The report said the figures were changing rapidly and that Binance had not confirmed the scale of the losses. These estimates describe observed asset movements across networks; they do not prove that all the amounts were losses or that every transfer resulted from a hack. The report also cited a Watcher.Guru estimate of more than $5.6 billion, but noted that the post did not explain an independent basis for that breakdown. The figures in circulation therefore remain separate from any official tally of what happened to user funds.

Binance did not confirm a hack, saying its teams were investigating reports of a potential security issue and that it had not confirmed any impact on user funds at that stage. CZ described the movements as looking like a hack, but acknowledged that he no longer runs Binance.com and framed coverage of user funds as his expectation as a shareholder. The company did not announce a similar commitment to compensate users in this incident. Nor did it say it would use its SAFU fund, a reserve Binance established in 2018 to address earlier losses. The company's website said the fund's assets stood at about $1 billion in February 2026, with their value changing according to the market. Binance said the fund was created to protect user assets, but its existence does not establish that it will be used in this case.

Separately, one day before the incident, Binance announced maintenance on its Ethereum wallet and said deposits and withdrawals over the network would be temporarily suspended during the work. The company scheduled the maintenance to begin at 06:00 UTC on October 28, 2026, and estimated it would last about an hour. Binance.US said its platform was independent and separate from Binance.com, and that its services and customer funds were safe and operating normally. Binance warned users against unofficial links and messages and requests for account information. It said it would issue updates through its official channels after verifying the information. What the company says about the cause of the transfers and the fate of any losses remains the next point to watch, along with any clarification about using SAFU or another compensation mechanism.