Binance investigates reports of a potential hack as stablecoin issuers freeze billions

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has said it is investigating reports of a potential security issue, as its founder said the incident "does look like a hack on Binance".

The company announced the investigation on Thursday. It was not immediately clear what damage hackers might have been able to accomplish, and Binance had not explicitly confirmed whether funds had been pilfered.

"Rest assured that user funds are completely safe," a Binance spokesperson said in a statement. "Our security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency, and we will provide updates through official Binance channels as soon as we have verified information," the statement continued.

Stablecoin issuers moved quickly to freeze funds on Thursday evening in response to the incident.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, wrote on X that his company had frozen the equivalent of more than $800 million in currency associated with the incident "in coordination with law enforcement".

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said on X that his company had frozen the equivalent of more than $1.5 billion in currency related to "a potential Binance exchange hack".

The price of bitcoin dropped 3.2% on Thursday afternoon to under $79,000.

Binance said the extent of the damage was not yet known. The company promised to provide updates through its official channels as soon as it has verified information.