Binance Freezes $3 Billion in Assets Amid Potential Security Breach

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has frozen $3 billion in assets as it investigates a potential security breach. The exchange has more than 335 million registered users globally and had about $160 billion in assets under custody as of its 2024 annual report. Binance runs a secure asset fund for users, which is a reserve held entirely in bitcoin that is intended to protect user assets in cases of security breaches.

The market impact of the possible hacking, which could be the largest-ever crypto heist, was felt immediately in early Asian trading on Friday. Bitcoin dropped about two percent to a six-week low of $77,646 and ether fell around two percent to a two-month low of $2,238.76.

Binance said it was conducting security checks and would resume withdrawals once the issue was fully resolved. It added user funds remained safe and that teams were reviewing the incident. The exchange also temporarily suspended trading on its Binance Alpha platform as a precaution.