Bitcoin slid 4% to $77,994.96 on Friday, extending losses after breaking below $80,000 as a suspected Binance security incident shook crypto markets.
Circle and Tether froze a combined $2.54 billion tied to the case, while Ripple helped block another $200 million, showing firms moved quickly to contain potentially stolen funds.
Arkham Intelligence identified nearly $6 billion in digital assets across 55 wallet addresses potentially linked to the incident, suggesting exposure could far exceed the amount already frozen.
Binance has not confirmed a hack and said user funds remain safe, though founder Changpeng Zhao said the incident appeared to be a hack.
The sell-off spread across major tokens—Ether fell 4.84% and BNB dropped 7.68%—reviving industrywide security fears after the 2025 Bybit and more recent Bitget breaches.