On Thursday afternoon (New York time), billions of dollars in digital assets were moved out of wallets controlled by Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The unauthorized withdrawals began at approximately 4:30 p.m., with researchers noting smaller transactions earlier in the day that appear linked to the same actors. Binance announced a pause on withdrawals around 6 p.m., issuing an official statement at 6:22 p.m. that the process had been halted.
Estimated value of the loss
By 8 p.m., Arkham Intelligence estimated that the value of the illicit withdrawals had exceeded $5.8 billion. Binance later reported a loss of $2.54 billion at 7:22 p.m., while other third‑party estimates placed the figure at more than double that amount.
Exchange response
Binance’s official channels, including its social‑media accounts, indicated that the company intends to reimburse affected customers. The exchange also suspended its Binance Alpha trading platform at 7:06 p.m. and said a post‑mortem analysis would be conducted after the investigation is completed.
Stablecoin issuers react
Stablecoin issuers Tether, Circle, World Liberty Financial and Paxos temporarily froze stablecoins to assist Binance in managing the incident.
Ongoing investigation
The situation remains under active investigation, with updates expected as authorities and Binance continue their efforts to trace and recover the missing assets.
