Circle CEO says it has coordinated with law enforcement to freeze over US$800 million linked to Binance incident
On October 29, Jeremy Allaire said in a post that Circle is closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance. The company has coordinated with law enforcement to freeze more than US$800 million in USDC related to the incident and will continue to support the investigation.
Earlier, Changpeng Zhao posted that the incident looked like a hack on Binance and thanked Tether for freezing about US$971 million in USDT and Circle for freezing about US$823 million in USDC. Media outlets including The Block cited on-chain data saying the two issuers froze a combined about US$1.79 billion in stablecoins.
Binance co-founder Yi He and Binance’s official account confirmed on the same day that they were aware of reports of a potential security issue and were investigating it. At this stage, they have not confirmed any impact on user funds and said user funds are SAFU. The official account reminded users to beware of scams and not to trust unofficial links or information requests.
Original sources:
Title: Circle is closely tracking reports of a potential exploit involving Binance... Publisher: Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) Date published: 2026-10-29 URL: https://x.com/jerallaire/status/2115916207463481846 Source nature: Original post by Circle CEO Verification status: Full original post read Supporting content: closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance; coordinated with law enforcement to freeze more than US$800 million in USDC; will continue to support the investigation.
Title: User funds are safe! It does look like a hack on Binance... Publisher: Changpeng Zhao (@cz_binance) Date published: 2026-10-29 URL: original post related Source nature: Original post by former Binance CEO/shareholder Verification status: previously read Supporting content: said the incident looked like a hack; thanked Tether and Circle for quickly freezing.
Title: We are aware of reports of a potential security issue... Publisher: Yi He (@heyibinance) and Binance’s official account Date published: 2026-10-29 URL: original post related Source nature: Original post by Binance co-founder and official account Verification status: previously read Supporting content: confirmed that they are investigating a potential security issue; user funds are SAFU; impact on user funds has not been confirmed.
ABAB AI Insight
Jeremy Allaire’s statement is the first public confirmation from Circle’s CEO level of the freezing action, and it explicitly mentions coordination with law enforcement. This is consistent with Circle’s previous public stance in other incidents that it freezes only under legal process or law-enforcement requests, and it also explains the speed and scope of its action. The freezing amount of more than US$800 million broadly matches the approximately US$823 million previously cited by media outlets and CZ.
The stablecoin issuers completed large freezes within hours after abnormal transfers from hot wallets, showing the rapid response capability of on-chain blacklist mechanisms in such incidents. The actions by Tether and Circle locked the related stablecoins at receiving addresses, limiting further movement, but that does not mean the assets have been recovered or that Binance has finally characterized the incident.
Binance remains at the stage of investigating and not confirming any impact on user funds, which creates an information layering with the statements from shareholders and external issuers. Whether user funds will ultimately require use of SAFU or other coverage mechanisms depends on the results of subsequent official verification. Public information has not yet directly equated the hot-wallet outflow with confirmed loss of user funds.
ABAB News · Laws of Cognition
Freezes by stablecoin issuers under law-enforcement coordination are the main tool for limiting fund movement after abnormal hot-wallet outflows.
External confirmation of freezes existing alongside the operating entity saying it has not yet confirmed any impact is a common information layering in major exchange security incidents.