Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is investigating a suspected $5.8 billion security breach after hackers targeted an Ethereum-linked wallet on October 29, 2026. Stablecoin issuers have already frozen over $2.38 billion in linked assets as investigations continue. Binance has assured users that customer funds are fully covered.
Details of the suspected heist
Blockchain analysts estimate that up to $5.8 billion in digital assets may be linked to the suspicious transactions, although the actual amount stolen has not been independently confirmed. The incident could surpass the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in 2025 as the biggest cryptocurrency heist in history.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as CZ, acknowledged the incident, saying, "It does look like a hack on Binance." He added that he expected customers' funds to be fully covered, despite no longer managing the exchange.
How the attack was carried out
The suspected attack centred on a Binance wallet identified as Binance 14, which holds cryptocurrency on the Ethereum network. Blockchain researchers believe the attacker exploited a feature called EIP-7702, which allows ordinary cryptocurrency wallets to execute instructions through smart contract code.
According to Cointelegraph, the attacker allegedly used malicious code to redirect funds from the Binance-linked wallet to an address under their control. Researchers also traced the funding of an address associated with the operation to Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service that makes it harder to trace the origin of digital transactions. However, investigators have yet to establish how the attacker obtained the authorisation needed to execute the operation.
Stablecoin issuers freeze assets
As the suspicious transfers came to light, cryptocurrency companies moved to stop some of the assets from being spent. Tether and Circle, the companies behind the USDT and USDC stablecoins, respectively, froze billions of dollars' worth of tokens linked to the incident.
According to Reuters, Tether and Circle froze more than $2.38 billion in stablecoins. Tether accounted for approximately $1.57 billion in USDT, while Circle froze more than $800 million in USDC. Binance co-founder Yi He also said Ripple had frozen approximately $200 million in RLUSD, its dollar-pegged stablecoin.
Impact and ongoing investigation
Despite the scale of the incident, Binance has maintained that customers' funds are safe. The exchange initially said it was investigating reports of a potential security issue before updating its statement to assure users that their funds were completely safe.
The incident has raised fresh concerns about the security of cryptocurrency exchanges, particularly as blockchain technology introduces new features that make digital transactions more flexible. Although EIP-7702 was designed to improve how cryptocurrency wallets interact with applications, the suspected attack highlights how criminals could exploit its features if wallet authorisation mechanisms are compromised.
Currently, investigators and blockchain analysts are still tracing the movement of the assets. While CZ has acknowledged that Binance appears to have been hacked, the exchange has not published a final account of the breach or independently confirmed the reported $5.8 billion figure as money stolen.
