Breaking: Binance may have suffered a $2.77 billion hack

• Binance likely suffered a $2.77 billion hack on Thursday.
• A total of $2.77 billion was transferred across five blockchains from addresses labelled as Binance hot wallets to unconfirmed wallets, according to on-chain data.
• While maintaining that user funds remain safe, Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao said the exchange had probably been hacked.

On-chain data revealed $2.77 billion in outflows from Binance's hot wallets to unconfirmed addresses across five blockchain networks on Thursday, suggesting the crypto exchange may have been hacked.

In a post on X, Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao maintained that user funds remain safe, although he said a hack was likely. Following the transfers, stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle froze stablecoins worth $971 million and $873 million, respectively.

A similar statement appeared on Binance's official X account.

Addressing the reports, Binance wrote: "Our teams are aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating," adding: "Our security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency, and we will provide updates through official Binance channels as soon as we have verified information. Users should remain cautious of scams and should not trust unofficial links, messages, or requests for account information."

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have fallen below $80,000 and $2,300, respectively, as the crypto market retreats following the update. According to Coinglass data, the decline triggered roughly $600 million in liquidations within 1 hour.

(This is a developing story and will be updated as new information comes to light.)