Binance founder Changpeng Zhao stated the transfer looks like a hack on the exchange. Tether froze more than $1.567 billion USDT linked to the incident while Circle froze near $823 million USDC. Ether is up 0.12% from the previous session close of $2,246.49.
Binance hot wallets sent over $2 billion in ETH and other tokens to a new address on Thursday. The transaction originated from an account funded via Tornado Cash, a tool used to obscure fund origins. An exchange representative stated they are examining reports of a possible security problem. Zhao expects user funds to be fully covered even as users report withdrawals stuck at processing.
Ether traded at $2,249.27 at 00:06 UTC on Friday, October 30, 2026. The asset has traded between $2,242.14 and $2,252.45 since the current session opened at 00:00 UTC on Friday. Over the previous 5 sessions Ether traded between $2,234.13 and $2,388.03.
Over the previous 20 sessions Ether traded between $2,234.13 and $2,576.58.
A verified breach would challenge the capacity of the exchange’s safety reserves to cover such a deficit.
The US Employment Cost Index release is due at 12:30 UTC on Friday, October 30. The previous reading was 0.9% and the consensus forecast is 0.8%.
Sources: Yahoo Finance quotes, ForTraders economic calendar.
