The Binance hack investigation began on Thursday, October 29, 2026, when large transfers left wallets linked to the exchange. Onchain analysts flagged the movements first. The funds left a Binance hot wallet and reached a new address. The transfers appeared on Ethereum first, then on Bitcoin and Tron. Binance initially described some withdrawal problems as a technical error. Shortly afterward, the exchange said it was running security checks and investigating a potential security issue. Withdrawals have not fully resumed, and Binance says it will reopen them once it resolves the problem.
User funds are safe! It does look like a hack on Binance. Appreciate the quick freeze from Tether (~$971m) and Circle (~$823m). I don’t manage Binance (.com) anymore, but as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 29, 2026
How Large the Loss Could Be
Estimates vary widely, and Binance has not confirmed any total. A widely shared tally from Watcher Guru lists about $1.45 billion in BTC, $875 million in ETH, $1.57 billion in USDT, and $823 million in USDC. The same tally adds smaller positions in TRX, XAUT, WBETH, and RLUSD, plus $447.5 million in other assets. Those lines add up to roughly $5.61 billion. Meanwhile, Arkham Intelligence tracked 55 linked addresses holding about $5.78 billion, according to Bloomingbit’s summary of CoinDesk’s reporting. Earlier counts ran much lower. BleepingComputer cited an analyst estimate near $3.48 billion, and the Wall Street Journal first reported at least $1.7 billion. Estimates likely rose as trackers linked more addresses to the attacker. Importantly, the final figure depends on which transfers Binance confirms as unauthorized.
BREAKING: Early numbers show over $5.6B in assets drained from Binance. $2.29 billion $USDT $1.45 billion $BTC $823 million $USDC $451 million $ETH This is the largest hack in crypto history. Hack may still be ongoing. https://t.co/Dt5GvjettC
— world (@world_xyz) October 29, 2026
Stablecoin Issuers Freeze Funds
Binance said its verified frozen total stands at $2.54 billion and may keep rising. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the issuer froze more than $1.567 billion in USDT tied to the incident. Circle reportedly froze more than $800 million in USDC. However, Changpeng Zhao cited different figures in his own post, including about $971 million from Tether. Reuters reported that Tether and Circle together froze more than $2.38 billion. In addition, Binance co-founder Yi He said Ripple froze about $200 million, according to Bloomingbit. Zach Witkoff also said USD1 froze $27 million associated with the incident. Notably, a freeze does not equal a recovery. Binance says frozen assets improve the chances of getting funds back.
User Funds and the SAFU Reserve
Binance maintains that customer funds remain safe. Zhao, who no longer runs the exchange but remains a major shareholder, wrote that it “does look like a hack.” He also said he expects users to receive full coverage. Binance.US said the incident did not affect its platform. The exchange’s SAFU reserve held 15,000 BTC as of February, roughly $1.185 billion at current prices according to Bloomingbit. That amount falls well short of the highest loss estimates. As a result, Binance would need other resources if the larger figures hold up. The company has not described a compensation plan.
Market and DeFi Fallout
Prices fell as the news spread. Bitcoin traded near $78,058, down about 4% on the day, while Ethereum dropped 4.5% to around $2,252. Solana fell 6.4% and XRP slid 6.7%. CoinGlass data showed about $627.7 million in derivatives liquidations in a single hour. Additionally, the attacker moved into DeFi. Decrypt reported that one linked wallet deposited about $60 million in USDT on Aave and borrowed 19,762 ETH. Aave then blocked new deposits and borrowing in its Ethereum V3 market. Kamino also paused borrowing in its SOL and BTC markets. Binance suspended Binance Alpha trading as well.
What Remains Unknown
Binance has not disclosed how the attacker gained access to the hot wallet. The exchange has not named a suspect either. For comparison, the February 2025 Bybit theft of about $1.5 billion stands as the previous record. If the $5.6 billion estimate holds, this incident would exceed it by a wide margin. Readers should treat every total in this story as preliminary until Binance or investigators publish verified numbers. Genfinity will update this article as Binance releases its findings.
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