Crypto markets slide as Binance probes $6.3B security breach, aims to resume withdrawals in 48 hours

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, disclosed that a security breach had caused an estimated $6.3B in losses, in what the industry is describing as crypto’s biggest-ever hack. Digital tokens dropped.“The estimated total impact sits at around $6.3B,” Binance said in a post on X. “We have worked with blockchain partners to freeze affected assets, with ~$3 billion frozen on-chain so far.”"User funds remain safe," Binance said in a statement. "As a precaution, all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while our security teams conduct checks, secure wallet infrastructure, and trace affected ​assets, with the close support of our law enforcement and industry partners."The company now expects to begin resuming withdrawal services within the next 48 hours, according to a post on X by co-founder Yi He. Deposits remain unaffected and continue to operate normally."Binance's initial investigation suggests that the security incident may involve a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions."Binance said its team is working on enhancements to withdrawal services and related address controls.Analysts, according to reports, warned that the incident could be the largest cryptocurrency heist ever recorded, potentially prompting investors to reassess the risks associated with holding digital assets.Crypto Markets Fall SharplyCryptocurrency markets responded swiftly during early Asian trading on Friday. Bitcoin fell by more than 3%, reaching a six-week low of $76,368, while Ether also declined over 3% to a two-month low of $2,178. BNB, formerly known as Binance Coin and used to pay transaction fees on the Binance platform, dropped 5% over the previous 24 hours to $709.70, according to cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko.Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global slipped 4.8%, while those of Bitcoin buyer Strategy fell nearly 6% in extended U.S. trading. Circle Internet Group dropped 5.6%.Crypto Firms Freeze Billions in AssetsBinance, which allows users to buy, sell, and trade digital assets, has 335M registered users globally and had about $162.8B in assets under custody as of ​the exchange's 2025 annual report.Stablecoin issuer Tether said () it had frozen nearly $1.57B in assets linked to the incident, while Circle World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to President Donald Trump and his family, had ​worked with cryptocurrency custodian BitGo to freeze funds ​stolen in what it described as a ⁠Binance hack, according to a post on Thursday. "This targeted action does not affect other USD1 services, which remain active."Binance's Yi said $27M in stablecoins and about $2M worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen. Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly $200M in funds, Yi said, according to reports.Content provided by Seeking Alpha is intended for information purposes only, and that Seeking Alpha does not offer any personalist investment advice and is not a licensed securities dealer, broker, US investment adviser or investment bank.