Binance investigates $6.3B exploit as issuers freeze $3B in assets
CIE News ·
Confirmed by 2 independent news outlets.
Binance halted transfers after a $6.3B exploit tied to an engineer's laptop, while stablecoin issuers and partners froze $3B in affected funds.
Binance suspended all cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals between October 29 and October 30, 2026, to investigate a $6.3 billion security breach. According to TradingView, the exchange stated that an attacker compromised a DevOps engineer's laptop, gaining access to a service container to submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. Binance reported that it found no evidence of a private-key leak.
Industry partners coordinated rapidly to contain the stolen funds, freezing an estimated $3 billion in assets. As reported by The Guardian, Tether immobilized more than $1.5 billion in USDT and Circle froze over $800 million in USDC, while First Digital halted stolen FDUSD. Additionally, the Arbitrum Security Council executed an emergency transfer to isolate $30.5 million, consisting of 74.6 million ARB and 8,425 ETH.
Binance co-founder Yi He pledged that the exchange will cover all user losses using company reserves and the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). Former chief executive Changpeng Zhao stated that he expects full coverage of affected client balances, while Coinbase leadership confirmed they are helping track and restrict illicit transaction addresses.
Key facts
- $6.3B security exploit
- Transfers halted
- $3B in assets frozen
- Losses covered by SAFU
Read the original at The Guardian