Binance Suspends Withdrawals as It Probes Security Incident

Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals while investigating a security incident, as the exchange and other cryptocurrency firms reported freezing billions of dollars in assets linked to the activity. Binance said customer funds were safe and pledged to cover hacking losses, but it had not confirmed how much, if any, was ultimately stolen. Binance reported that the value of assets frozen had reached $2.54 billion by Thursday evening, October 29, and later updates put its verified total at $3 billion. The company said the figure could rise as it worked with law enforcement, token issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and other industry partners to trace and freeze assets. Frozen funds are not necessarily returned to Binance, and the reported total does not establish the exchange’s final losses. Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino said his company had frozen more than $1.5 billion in assets linked to a potential Binance hack. Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said Circle had frozen more than $800 million in USDC associated with the incident, in coordination with law enforcement. Binance co-founder Yi He also said Ripple had helped freeze about $200 million in assets...