Binance Freezes About $3bn in Funds After Potential Security Breach

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said roughly $3bn in funds have been frozen after what it described as a "potential security issue." The company announced the step on Thursday, October 30.

Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, said it had halted all deposits and withdrawals "as a precaution." It said it was investigating the situation and had involved law enforcement.

The company said its teams were "working around the clock" to trace and freeze further assets. It also promised to publish a "full post-mortem" once its investigations are finished. Binance added that it would cover "all losses" and that user funds were safe.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Binance said: "Our security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency, and we will provide updates through official Binance channels as soon as we have verified information." It also urged users to stay alert for scams and not to trust unofficial links, messages, or requests for account details.

Markets reacted quickly. The price of Bitcoin, the most widely held cryptocurrency, dropped about 5 percent after the incident was reported, falling below $77,000.

Changpeng Zhao, who founded Binance and remains its largest shareholder, suggested the exchange had been the target of a cyber heist. "It does look like a hack on Binance," he wrote in a post on X. Zhao stepped down as chief executive in 2023 and no longer manages the exchange's operations. "I don't manage Binance (.com) anymore, but as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered," he added.

If the breach is confirmed, it would be the largest theft of crypto assets on record. The current record is the $1.5bn heist carried out in 2025 by the North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group.

The scale of crypto theft was already substantial last year. According to the 2026 Crypto Crime Report from market intelligence firm TRM, cybercriminals stole $2.87bn in crypto assets across nearly 150 hacking incidents in 2025.

Zhao founded Binance in China in 2017. According to CoinMarketCap, the exchange holds about $155bn in assets under its management, more than any other platform.