The cryptocurrency industry faced one of its most turbulent days this Thursday as reports of massive security breaches involving Binance and Polymarket triggered sharp market declines, widespread panic among investors, and renewed concerns over the security of digital asset platforms.
While Binance investigated what could become the largest cryptocurrency hack in history, Polymarket temporarily halted operations following a cyberattack linked to a third-party service provider.
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The crisis began when reports emerged suggesting that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, had suffered a major security breach. Initial estimates indicated that nearly $600 million in crypto liquidations occurred across exchanges within a single hour as traders rushed to reduce risk amid growing uncertainty.
We are working non-stop to resolve this issue. Binance will cover all losses.
— Binance (@binance) October 30, 2026
As a precaution, all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while our team conducts security checks, freezes funds, and works with law enforcement.
We are working around the clock and will… pic.twitter.com/zufWJ6V05D
As the situation unfolded, blockchain analysts reported that wallets allegedly tied to the attackers had received digital assets worth more than $5.5 billion. Later disclosures suggested that the amount associated with the incident could exceed $5.7 billion across multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, USDT, and USDC.
The market reaction was immediate. Bitcoin fell below the $80,000 threshold, while Binance Coin (BNB), the exchange’s native token, dropped sharply. Other major cryptocurrencies also recorded significant losses as investors sought safety amid fears of a systemic security event affecting one of the sector’s most important institutions.
Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ and the founder of Binance, stated that the available information appeared to indicate that the platform had suffered a hack. Although no longer involved in the day-to-day management of the company, Zhao expressed hope that all customer funds would ultimately be protected.
Binance, for its part, sought to reassure users, stating that customer assets remained secure and urging the community to remain vigilant against scams and phishing attempts that often proliferate during high-profile security incidents. The company also temporarily suspended several Binance Alpha services, including CEX Buy Token, Alpha Instant, and predictive trading-related functions linked to spot wallet funds.
As investigators worked to determine the full scope of the breach, Binance announced that approximately $2.54 billion worth of assets had already been frozen through emergency security measures. The exchange emphasized that only verified information would be released as the investigation continued.
We are aware of differing figures circulating publicly regarding the amount frozen, including references to $1.8 billion.
— Binance (@binance) October 29, 2026
For clarity, the current verified total frozen is $2.54 billion. This figure may continue to increase as our teams work closely with law enforcement,… pic.twitter.com/Kx68qptfXk
The turmoil was compounded by a separate cyberattack targeting Polymarket, one of the world’s most prominent prediction market platforms. The company temporarily suspended trading operations for nearly an hour after identifying a security incident involving an external service provider.
According to reports, attackers may have exploited a vulnerability connected to DebugBear, a third-party performance and analytics tool used by the platform. The breach allegedly resulted in the theft of roughly $2.65 billion to $2.7 billion worth of cryptocurrencies from user wallets, making it one of the largest incidents ever reported in the prediction market sector.
Following the attack, Polymarket notified British authorities, as preliminary information suggested the operation may have originated from the United Kingdom. At the same time, users reported missing funds and emptied wallets across community channels, raising concerns about the broader implications of third-party software vulnerabilities within the crypto ecosystem.
Despite the disruption, Polymarket moved quickly to restore operations and pledged to compensate affected users. In public statements, the company promised to reimburse all verified losses, an effort aimed at restoring confidence and preventing a prolonged loss of trust among traders.
POLYMARKET HALTS TRADING AFTER HACKERS DRAIN USER FUNDS WITHOUT PASSWORDS OR SEED PHRASES
— Bitcoin News (@BitcoinNewsCom) October 29, 2026
Attackers allegedly exploited users’ active sessions to sell their positions and withdraw funds directly through Polymarket’s own system.
The attack reportedly originated from a… pic.twitter.com/GJB7MTrBfH
The dual incidents have reignited a longstanding debate over cybersecurity standards in the cryptocurrency industry. For years, exchanges and digital asset platforms have promoted increasingly sophisticated security systems, yet the scale of the reported losses at Binance and Polymarket suggests that even major players remain vulnerable to large-scale attacks.
If confirmed at the estimated levels reported by analysts and security firms, the Binance breach would surpass all previous cryptocurrency thefts on record, marking a pivotal moment for the digital asset industry. Combined with the Polymarket attack, the events of October 29 erased billions of dollars in market value, exposed potential weaknesses in platform security infrastructure, and highlighted the systemic risks that continue to accompany the rapid growth of the global cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The cyberattack has renewed warnings about cybersecurity protections, investor confidence and risks associated with the use of digital financial platforms.
As investigations continue, regulators, security experts, and investors alike will be watching closely to determine not only how the attacks occurred, but also what they reveal about the resilience of the crypto industry in an era of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
A Binance informou, via publicação no X na noite desta quinta-feira (29), que está investigando um potencial “problema de segurança” em sua plataforma. Parte das negociações operadas pela Binance foram suspensas.
“Estamos trabalhando sem parar para resolver este problema. A Binance cobrirá todas as perdas. […] Estamos trabalhando 24 horas por dia e compartilharemos um relatório completo pós-incidente assim que a investigação for concluída”, escreveu a plataforma no X.
A empresa informou que congelou US$ 2,54 bilhões até o momento, que o montante pode subir à medida que suas equipes trabalham junto de forças policiais, emissores, empresas de inteligência em blockchain e parceiros da indústria para rastrear e travar ativos adicionais.
“Este é um esforço em escala da indústria, e somos gratos aos parceiros em todo o ecossistema que agiram rapidamente para ajudar a congelar os ativos afetados.”
“Nossa equipe está realizando verificações de segurança. As retiradas serão retomadas assim que o problema de segurança for totalmente resolvido”, escreveu a plataforma em publicação no X.
Segundo a Binance, os recursos dos usuários estão seguros.
A empresa segue atualizando o caso em suas redes sociais ao passo que confirma novas informações sobre a ocorrência. A Binance ainda alerta para que usuários fiquem atentos para potenciais golpes tentando tirar vantagem da situação.
A Binance dos Estados Unidos afirma que suas operações não foram afetadas pelo “incidente de segurança”.
“Somos uma plataforma separada e independente, e os fundos e serviços dos clientes estão seguros e funcionando normalmente”, diz a conta da operação norte-americana no X.
Binance, la mayor plataforma para la compra e intercambio de criptomonedas, informó este jueves de que había experimentado una brecha de seguridad, aunque aseguró que los fondos de los usuarios estaban seguros. Changpeng Zhao, cofundador de Binance, confirmó el ataque en su cuenta en X.
© Tyrone Siu (REUTERS)
World’s largest crypto exchange said it had not confirmed whether funds had been pilfered
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday it is investigating reports of a potential security issue as its founder said the incident “does look like a hack on Binance”. The company said cryptocurrency firms had frozen about $3bn in funds by Thursday evening.
It was not immediately clear the extent of the damage hackers might have been able to accomplish and Binance had not explicitly confirmed that funds had been pilfered, but stablecoin issuers quickly froze funds Thursday evening.
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© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A Russian court sentenced Yuri Belenky, director of the IT company DiHouse, to 13 years in prison on terrorism financing charges, Radio Liberty reported on 26 October. The case concerns cryptocurrency donations that investigators believe were meant for Ukraine’s Armed Forces, the outlet said. The court also fined Belenky 500,000 rubles ($6,200), according to the report.
Since 2022, Russian courts have imprisoned Russians and Ukrainians under treason, terrorism, and other national-security laws over donations to Ukrainian causes. Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, left Russia in 2023 but says it cooperates with lawful law-enforcement requests in different countries.
Belenky had lived in Bulgaria with his wife and child since 2015. In September 2025, he traveled to Moscow on business, and police detained him at the airport for allegedly using obscene language, Radio Liberty reported. In court, Belenky denied swearing, but the judge gave him 13 days of administrative detention. On the 10th day of his detention, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against him under an article on terrorism financing, based on a report from the Federal Security Service, according to the report.
In October 2025, Russia’s Investigative Committee contacted Binance to request information on six users who had transferred funds to a cryptocurrency wallet published by journalist Arkady Babchenko, the Russian human rights project First Department said on 17 August 2026. The exchange provided investigators with Belenky’s detailed account history, including his personal information, copies of identification documents, and cryptocurrency transaction records, according to the organization. The human rights project said the materials helped investigators identify nine more transfers, which went into the final charge against Belenky. Binance told his lawyer it does not give law enforcement user account data without a court order or an equivalent ruling, the group said.
Belenky’s alleged offense was transferring donations totaling 126,000 rubles ($1,560) between 2022 and 2024 to an account published by Babchenko, Radio Liberty reported. The court ordered that sum confiscated.
The court said the money in Babchenko’s account went to Ukraine’s Armed Forces and the Azov battalion, which Russia designates as a terrorist organization, Radio Liberty reported.
In a statement dated 14 October 2025, Babchenko said he had not received transfers from Belenky to the cryptocurrency wallets he had published. He emphasized that he had raised money for civilian humanitarian needs, not to support the military.
In September 2023, Binance announced that it would sell its entire Russian business to cryptocurrency exchange CommEX, according to the company’s website. Operating in Russia was incompatible with Binance’s compliance strategy, the exchange’s chief compliance officer, Noah Perlman, said in the announcement. Binance said it would fully exit the Russian market, receive no share of future revenue from the sale, and retain no option to buy back the business.
CommEX said on 29 September 2023 that it was not owned by Binance but confirmed that it had hired some former Binance employees during the platform’s six-month development, Cointelegraph reported.
The exit came after earlier questions about Binance’s dealings with the Russian state. In April 2021, Russian financial intelligence officials met with Binance’s head of Eastern Europe and Russia in Moscow and asked the exchange to provide customer data, including names and addresses, Reuters reported in April 2022. The Binance executive agreed to the request in a message to a business associate, saying he didn’t have “much of a choice,” the outlet said. Binance told Reuters it had never been contacted by Russian authorities about Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
In February 2026, 11 US senators asked the Treasury Department and the Justice Department to investigate Binance’s compliance with sanctions and anti-money laundering rules, Cointelegraph reported. They cited reports that about $1.7 billion had moved through Binance to Iran-linked entities, as well as possible activity related to evading Russian sanctions. The senators also warned that Binance payment cards launched in parts of the former Soviet Union could facilitate sanctions evasion. Binance rejected the allegations.
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