Binance has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals after detecting what it described as an alleged hack. The exchange said the pause was a precautionary measure while its team conducts security checks and cooperates with authorities. More than 2.5 billion dollars in digital assets have been frozen.
Bitcoin fell more than 3 percent and dropped below 77,000 dollars, its lowest level since September, according to Bloomberg. Bitcoin was trading at 77,571 dollars at 03:42 GMT, down 2.73 percent from the previous close by our market data.
Stablecoin issuers step in
Circle has immobilised more than 800 million dollars in USDC, the stablecoin it issues. Tether, which issues USDT, is also involved in the freezing of funds, according to the reporting.
Paolo Ardoino of Tether and Jeremy Allaire of Circle were among the executives named in the coverage. Neither was quoted directly on the hack.
Zhao expects users to be covered
Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s co-founder and main shareholder, who no longer holds an executive position, believes the incident appeared to be a hack against the platform. He expressed confidence that users’ funds will be covered.
Also Read
Related: Binance probes possible hack; Tether and Circle freeze funds
Data: CoinGecko
