Binance Probes Possible $2B Breach; Circle and Tether Freeze Stablecoins

Binance acknowledged a major security breach, with over $2 billion taken from wallets. Circle and Tether moved swiftly to freeze most of the assets.

At the heart of the issue is an Ethereum wallet that reportedly contained more than $2.3 billion in tokens. According to Etherscan screenshots checked by BeInCrypto, that wallet received 28,005.6 ETH from an address tagged as Binance, then transferred 195,460 ETH—worth around $440 million—to another wallet.

The transfers triggered assertions of a $2 billion hack on Binance. Whether any funds were taken and the size of the loss have not been confirmed.

“We are aware of reports of a potential security issue and we are actively investigating,” a Binance spokesperson told BeInCrypto. “At this stage, we have not confirmed any impact to user funds.”

Security teams are examining the activity, the representative added, and advised users to steer clear of unofficial links and solicitations for account details.

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. https://t.co/oufpyNChxI

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 29, 2026

Stablecoins Worth Almost $1.8 Billion Identified

According to a surveillance screenshot, Circle locked about $823 million in USDC at that wallet. However, this measure lacks independent verification so far.

A different on-chain blacklist registry indicates Tether submitted a freeze request for about $971.1 million in USDT at that same address. The last status noted was "pending execution," which suggests the tokens had not been frozen.

Combined, the sums come to nearly $1.8 billion, but they cannot yet be considered definitively frozen or stolen.

Could This Be Address Poisoning?

That wallet also received minuscule amounts from multiple addresses that looked similar to another address it had used recently. This matches address poisoning, where fraudsters insert near-identical wallet addresses into a victim's transaction record, banking on the victim copying the wrong one during a future transfer.

No proof exists that this accounts for the $440 million transfer. Hot wallets, which are online wallets exchanges use for handling customer deposits and withdrawals, are involved, but a transfer from one does not automatically mean user funds were taken.

As an immediate step, users should confirm full recipient addresses, rely on saved withdrawal allowlists, and refrain from copying addresses out of transaction records. Get Binance updates from the exchange's official app or website.

USDT also dipped about 0.1% under $1 on certain exchange prices, and a single screenshot from a decentralized swap displayed a far steeper discount. That lone quote, however, does not indicate a general depeg from $1.

A broader cryptocurrency decline had already started before the wallet alerts emerged, making a direct cause-and-effect connection still unproven.