Binance freezes billions after suspected breach rattles crypto markets

Binance halted deposits and withdrawals after detecting unusually large transfers from its hot wallets—the online wallets an exchange uses to process day-to-day customer transactions—and said it was investigating a possible security breach. The exchange and stablecoin issuers including Tether and Circle had frozen more than $2.5 billion in assets, which can stop those tokens from moving but does not by itself show how much was ultimately stolen or recoverable. Estimates of the potentially affected crypto vary widely because they are based on blockchain transfers rather than a completed accounting of losses; Binance said customer funds were safe. Crypto prices fell as traders weighed both the possible scale of the breach and the disruption at the industry’s largest trading venue.