Binance Locks $3B as Withdrawals Stay Frozen

Binance users cannot pull their money out right now. The exchange suspended withdrawals as a security step after an incident it estimates caused $6.3 billion in damage. Binance says customer balances are covered by company funds and its SAFU protection fund, so users will not pay for the losses. That protection does not restore access: withdrawals remain blocked while checks continue.

Binance said on Friday, October 30, 2026, that it had frozen roughly $3 billion tied to the attack. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said his firm froze about $1.6 billion connected to a possible attack on Binance. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said his company blocked more than $800 million in USDC. Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs said it has high confidence that TraderTraitor, a group linked to North Korea, organized the operation. TraderTraitor has been tied to the Lazarus Group. Binance has not officially named who carried out the attack.

Binance's initial probe found that attackers compromised a DevOps engineer's laptop. That access let them reach a service container and submit withdrawal transactions without authorization. The company said it has found no evidence that private keys for its wallets were leaked. The investigation also turned up additional weak points, which widened the scope of the inquiry.

The company said it is working with blockchain analytics firms, digital asset issuers and authorities to trace more funds. It is also cooperating with law enforcement. Binance said it will publish a detailed technical report once it has verified what happened, and an update to its Proof of Reserves once fixes are complete. There is no public tally yet of all assets involved.

Here is how the situation developed. Binance confirmed the cyberattack and put the estimated economic impact at $6.3 billion. It froze assets connected to the attack while halting withdrawals as a precaution. It said it would cover all losses from its own resources and the SAFU fund. TRM Labs tied the operation to TraderTraitor. Tether froze about $1.6 billion and Circle blocked over $800 million in USDC. Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in six weeks and later regained some ground. Ether dropped to its lowest price in two months. BNB, the token tied to Binance, fell about 6.1%. Before U.S. markets opened, Coinbase lost about 5.2% and Strategy dropped 5.1%, with Robinhood, Hut 8 and Riot Platforms down near 5%.

Binance said it expects withdrawals to return to normal within 48 hours. That timing came from forecasts issued during the incident and is not a guarantee of restoration. The company is revoking authorizations tied to affected addresses to block further unauthorized operations.

The exchange has not released a full accounting of affected assets. TRM Labs said its attribution to TraderTraitor rests on on-chain data and outside information showing similarities to other crypto thefts attributed to North Korea.