Over $5.5B Withdrawn From Binance in Suspected Security Breach

A suspected security incident has led to the withdrawal of at least $5.57 billion in cryptocurrencies from wallets associated with Binance, according to Decrypt. The funds left across three different blockchains, including $3.51 billion on Ethereum, $1.44 billion in Bitcoin, and $630 million on Tron.

Binance has not confirmed a hack but acknowledged a possible security issue and began an active investigation. The exchange has stated that it is reviewing the situation with urgency and has not yet verified any impact on user funds.

The withdrawals reportedly originated from Binance’s hot wallets. On Ethereum, a large transaction sent 167,464 ETH and 63 different tokens, including 1.615 billion USDT, to a new address. Shortly before this, a delegation allowing smart contract code execution was set for the wallet, though it remains unclear how necessary signatures were obtained.

In response, Tether froze 975.1 million USDT and Circle blocked 823 million USDC at the affected address, bringing the total frozen to about $1.8 billion. Both firms noted their coordination with ongoing investigations. Despite these measures, a portion of the funds was quickly moved elsewhere by the attacker.

This incident highlights potential risks for those working with stablecoins like USDT and processing card payments in the crypto sector.