Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that about $3bn in funds had been frozen following a “potential security issue”. The company suspended all deposits and withdrawals as a precaution while it investigated and brought in law enforcement.
Binance said it was working to trace and freeze additional assets and would publish a detailed review once its investigations were complete. It also pledged to cover all losses and said user funds were safe.
Founder says the exchange appears to have been hacked
Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s founder and largest shareholder, said the platform seemed to have been targeted in a cyber heist. Writing on X, he said, “It does look like a hack on Binance,” although he no longer manages its operations after stepping down as CEO in 2023.
Zhao added that, as a shareholder, he expected all user funds to be fully covered. If the hacking is confirmed, it would be the largest theft of crypto assets in history, surpassing the $1.5bn heist carried out in 2025 by the North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group.
Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, fell about 5 percent after the incident and dropped below $77,000.
Binance urges users to beware of scams
Binance said its security teams were urgently reviewing all relevant information and would share verified updates through official channels. It told customers to stay cautious of scams and to ignore unofficial links, messages and requests for account details.
According to the 2026 Crypto Crime Report from market intelligence firm TRM, cybercriminals stole $2.87bn in crypto assets in nearly 150 hacking incidents in 2025. CoinMarketCap data shows Binance, founded in China by Zhao in 2017, has about $155bn in assets under management, more than any other exchange.
