Binance Also Hit by Hack Fears as Estimated Outflows Top $5 Billion

Estimated asset outflows exceed $5 billion

Bitget, CoinDCX also suffer fresh breaches

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is facing allegations of a major hack. On-chain analysis detected signs that more than $5 billion in assets may have flowed out, and concern deepened as some users also reported difficulty withdrawing funds. With security incidents repeatedly hitting major exchanges in South Korea and abroad, the market is increasingly focused on whether platforms can keep customer assets safe, not just offer trading convenience.

Data from Hyperdash on Oct. 29 showed estimated outflows from wallets linked to Binance at about $5.6 billion. Fund movements were detected across several blockchains, including Ethereum, Bitcoin and Tron. The assets included 18,270 Bitcoin, about 197,170 Ether, and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC.

Stablecoin issuers moved to freeze funds. Tether Chief Executive Officer Paolo Ardoino said more than 1.567 billion USDT had been frozen in connection with Binance’s potential hack. Circle also froze about $823 million. Combined, the two freezes totaled about $2.4 billion.

Binance said it was aware of reports of a potential security issue and was investigating. User funds are completely safe, it added.

The concern also rippled through prices. Data from CoinGlass showed about $627.7 million in cryptocurrency derivatives positions were liquidated in the hour when the hacking allegations spread. Long positions, or bets on gains, accounted for about $606.6 million of that total. Bitcoin at one point fell below $79,000 for the first time in about 40 days.

The latest incident follows a string of major hacks at other exchanges. Bitget lost about $388 million after its wallet system was attacked on Sept. 24. The company’s investigation found that the attacker exploited a vulnerability in an external security product, gained a high level of internal access, and then sent fake withdrawal instructions. Bitget made customers whole, but did not fully restore its suspended withdrawal service until Oct. 2.

At Indian exchange CoinDCX, about $15.99 million in USDT was drained from an older wallet on Oct. 21. Some user deposits had continued to flow into the wallet even after it was taken out of service following a hack last year, and funds accumulated there after an automated transfer process meant to move them to a new wallet failed to work properly. CoinDCX said the company absorbed the loss and that its active wallets and trading systems were unaffected. The episode showed how operational gaps left behind after an earlier breach can lead to additional losses.

South Korea has not been exempt. Upbit suffered a hack on Nov. 27, 2025, in which Solana-network digital assets worth about $32.2 million were transferred to an external wallet. According to materials submitted to financial authorities, user losses totaling about $27.9 million were fully covered with company funds. Upbit also suffered an Ether outflow incident in 2019.

Even cold wallets kept offline do not guarantee safety throughout the management process. Bybit lost about $1.46 billion in an attack targeting a cold wallet in February 2025. According to security firm CertiK, the attacker made the transfer appear legitimate on the wallet management screen while actually inducing staff to sign a malicious transaction. The system required approval from multiple personnel, but it failed to screen out the manipulated transfer.