$2.77 Billion in Transfers from Binance-Linked Wallets Amid Security Probe
Key Facts
Binance is investigating a report of a security issue after estimates put transfers from wallets linked to the platform at $2.77 billion across five networks on October 29, while the platform said it had detected no impact on user funds up to that point. The company has not determined whether the transfers resulted from a hack or other activity, and has not confirmed any losses. Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and former chief executive, said the activity "looks like a hack." The discrepancy between the transfer estimates and the platform's position places the incident under investigation, rather than among confirmed losses. The volume of flows alone also does not establish whether the assets left their owners' control.
A report published on October 29 estimated the outflows at about $2.77 billion across five blockchain networks, but said their cause remained unclear. In a separate large Ethereum transaction, about 167,464 ETH moved from a wallet labeled Binance to a new address, according to the same report. The transfer of this amount alone does not prove that the transaction was unauthorized or that it represented stolen funds. The report also cited a separate transfer of about 780 million USDC from Binance Hot Wallet 34 to the same address. This transaction is among the reported details of the asset movements, but is not enough on its own to establish a link between all the transfers or confirm a hack.
Zhao said the transfers looked like a hack and thanked Tether and Circle for freezing assets he said amounted to about 971 million USDT and 823 million USDC, respectively. These figures remain attributed to Zhao's statements and press coverage, as the available information did not include direct confirmation from the companies of those amounts. Stablecoins differ from ETH in that their issuers can, under certain conditions, block blockchain addresses from sending or receiving the currency. Circle says its blocking mechanism does not reverse a completed transaction; once a transfer is complete, it cannot be reversed or recovered through this mechanism. Therefore, mention of frozen stablecoin balances does not mean that all assets associated with the flows can be frozen or recovered.
Zhao said he no longer runs Binance, having stepped down as chief executive in 2023, and that his expectation that user funds would be fully covered was an opinion he offered as a shareholder, not a formal company commitment. In an earlier security incident, Binance said attackers withdrew 7,000 BTC in a single transaction from its hot wallet in May 2019, valuing the amount at about $40 million at the time. The company said then that it would use the SAFU fund to cover the loss in full and that user funds would not be affected. Binance says user balances are covered 1:1 under its proof of reserves and describes SAFU as an emergency fund. The fund's balance stood at 1 billion USDC in January 2026, according to the company; however, this public information does not establish that the fund will be used in the current incident.
BNB's daily market closes showed its price falling to $745.27 on October 29 from $759.85 the previous day. ETH also closed at $2,335.74, compared with $2,359.68 on October 28. These prices provide a specific daily comparison for the two currencies and do not support a general characterization of a decline in major cryptocurrencies. As for what may be released next, no statement on the incident appeared among the latest announcements displayed on Binance's newsroom at the time of verification. Nor did the open list on Circle's blog show an article about a Binance-related freeze, while the list included posts dated October 28 and October 22, 2026.