Rumors of Multi-Billion Dollar Hack Hit World's Largest Crypto Exchange Binance

The cryptocurrency market plunged and some emergency asset freeze measures were implemented as rumors spread that Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a hack worth billions of dollars.

A Binance spokesperson announced on the 30th local time, "We are aware of reports regarding a potential security issue and are investigating," adding, "At this stage, no impact on user funds has been confirmed, and we will share updates through official channels as soon as they become available."

Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, also acknowledged that there is a possibility the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange was hacked, while emphasizing that user funds are safe.

Binance has been operating an insurance fund of approximately $1 billion known as SAFU since 2018 to protect users' assets in extreme situations.

As suspicions spread, major stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle took immediate steps to freeze their respective stablecoins on the Binance exchange.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated via X that he "froze over $1.5 billion worth of Tether," and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire also said, "We have frozen $800 million worth of coins following reports that Binance's vulnerabilities were exploited."

Bitcoin plummeted by around 4% on this day, dropping to $78,516 per coin, its lowest level in nearly a month.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jensen Sipeyt expressed concern over the recent string of security incidents, stating, "Hot wallet hacks are not new in the crypto market, but given the scale occurring at the world's largest exchange, it is extremely serious."

In particular, this situation has further amplified market volatility as it occurred right ahead of an $11 billion options expiry on the 30th, alongside concerns that the Democratic Party's victory in the US midterm elections could lead to tighter regulations on the cryptocurrency industry.

Tian Zheng, CEO of crypto hedge fund Third Eye, warned Bloomberg, "Relentless hacks are a fatal blow to the crypto industry," adding, "It is extremely dangerous for these vulnerabilities to be continuously exposed at a time when new artificial intelligence models emerge every two weeks."

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.