--- title: "Over $2 Billion Withdrawn from Binance Hot Wallets: Exchange Founder Reports Hack" description: "On the evening of October 29, over $2 billion was withdrawn from Binance hot wallets in what appears to be a hack. Founder Zhao stated user funds are safe, and part of the stolen stablecoins has already been frozen." date: 2026-10-29T21:35:53.354Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/binance-2-billion-dollar-hack tags: [binance, crypto-hack, ethereum, stablecoins, changpeng-zhao] author: "Andrey Kosynko" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Over $2 Billion Withdrawn from Binance Hot Wallets: Exchange Founder Reports Hack ![Smartphone showing the Binance logo on screen against a backdrop of crypto market charts](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/29/binance-kraduzh-2-mld-dollarov/binance-kraduzh-2-mld-dollarov-1.webp) ## Key Points - Over $2 billion withdrawn from Binance hot wallets, estimated by Tree News at $2.53 billion across 60+ tokens - Founder Zhao reported a hack but assured that user funds are secure - Tether and Circle froze nearly $1.8 billion in stolen stablecoins - Earlier, Zhao warned users about phishing emails and infected computers On the evening of October 29, digital assets worth over $2 billion were withdrawn from the hot wallets of the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance. According to available data, the incident bears the hallmarks of a hack: funds were withdrawn in short series of transactions to newly created addresses. Part of the stolen assets has already been frozen, and exchange users have been promised full compensation for their losses. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine citing a statement by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on social media X, data from crypto publication BeInCrypto, and blockchain explorer Etherscan. ### Timeline of the Fund Withdrawal According to Etherscan data, at 22:24 Kyiv time, 167,464 ETH — worth about $388 million — as well as 63 tokens, including approximately $1.6 billion in the USDT stablecoin, were withdrawn from Binance wallet 14. Just 24 seconds later, another 28,005 ETH left Binance wallet 16 to the same address. The recipient addresses were created on the same day: within 15 minutes, about $450 million in ETH from one of them was transferred to another new address. The Tree News service estimated the total volume of withdrawn funds at $2.53 billion across more than 60 tokens. ### Binance's Reaction and Asset Freezing "User funds are SAFU! This does look like a Binance exploit," Zhao wrote on X. He thanked Tether and Circle for promptly freezing the stolen stablecoins; according to him, this amounts to a total of nearly $1.8 billion of the withdrawn funds. Zhao also clarified that he no longer manages Binance, but as a shareholder, he expects the exchange to fully cover all client losses. ### Phishing Threat Warning The day before, on October 28, Zhao publicly urged users not to open links in emails and not to download attachments. He warned that the threat could come even from acquaintances whose computers were infected with viruses without their knowledge. Against the background of the subsequent hot wallet incident, this statement reinforces suspicions that the attack was prepared through access compromise rather than solely via a vulnerability in the exchange's infrastructure. ### Context: Who is Zhao and What is This Exchange Changpeng Zhao founded Binance in 2017, but stepped down as CEO in 2023 following a settlement with US authorities. Binance remains the world's largest crypto exchange, widely used including in Ukraine. RBC-Ukraine separately notes that the country still lacks specific tax laws for cryptocurrencies, meaning many digital asset owners do not know whether they should declare their income; according to a lawyer's estimate, cryptocurrency income could be subject to a 23% tax in a number of cases. ## Fact-Check & Sources - [Основатель Binance заявил, что биржу сломали: из кошельков вывели более 2 млрд долларов](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/zasnovnik-binance-zayaviv-shcho-birzhu-zlamali-1793309525.html) - Primary source: Zhao's statement on X, BeInCrypto and Etherscan data, Tree News estimate. Withdrawal timeline (167,464 ETH + 63 tokens from wallet 14, 28,005 ETH from wallet 16) and freezing amount (~$1.8 billion) are taken from the text. ## FAQ ### How much funds were withdrawn from Binance? According to Etherscan and Tree News estimates, the total volume of withdrawn funds ranges from $2 to $2.53 billion in over 60 tokens; nearly $1.8 billion of this in stablecoins has already been frozen. ### What did the Binance founder say? Changpeng Zhao stated that user funds are safe, called the incident a Binance exploit, and thanked Tether and Circle for freezing the stolen stablecoins. He noted that he no longer manages the exchange but expects full coverage of client losses as a shareholder. ### When did the withdrawal occur? The first major series of transactions was recorded at 22:24 Kyiv time on October 29: 167,464 ETH and 63 tokens were withdrawn from Binance wallet 14, and 24 seconds later, another 28,005 ETH from Binance wallet 16.