Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao confirmed late on October 29, 2026 that the exchange appears to have suffered a hack, while emphasizing that user funds are safe. His statement, posted on X around 21:16 UTC, came as blockchain observers reported roughly $2.77 billion in outflows across five blockchains.
Zhao thanked stablecoin issuers for rapid action, noting that Tether froze approximately $971 million in USDT and Circle froze about $823 million in USDC — a combined $1.79 billion, or roughly two-thirds of the reported outflows. He added that he no longer manages Binance.com, but as a shareholder, he expects all user funds to be fully covered.
However, the stablecoin freezes do not extend to non-freezable assets. Around 195,000 ETH sent to a flagged Ethereum address and approximately 16,700 BTC that left Binance wallets remain outside issuer control. Circle’s freeze figure also exceeds the single 780 million USDC transfer from Binance’s Hot Wallet 34 seen on Etherscan, suggesting additional USDC was involved.
As of about 21:20 UTC, Binance itself had not issued a formal statement. The exchange has historically used its Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU, an emergency reserve established in 2018, to cover past losses, but it has not confirmed whether SAFU will be tapped in this incident. Key details to watch include the cause and full scale of the breach, whether withdrawals remain open, and how Binance plans to compensate any losses.
