Add as a preferred source on GoogleBinance Says $3 Billion in Assets Tied to Suspected Theft Are Frozen
Tether and Circle account for most of the reported stablecoin freezes, while Arbitrum moved associated tokens into a restricted wallet.
Binance said about $3 billion in assets tied to the suspected hot-wallet theft were frozen by 8:52 a.m. Beijing time (8:52 p.m. ET Oct. 29), a major milestone in efforts to recover the funds.
About 1.77 billion USDT, 12,574 XAUT and 6.19 million USDT0 were frozen. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino had earlier said the company froze more than 1.567 billion USDT. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said Circle froze more than $800 million in USD Coin (USDC) in coordination with law enforcement; 823 million USDC were frozen.
Binance also froze 29,934 Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH), a token issued by its liquid-staking product. Arbitrum's Security Council said it moved 74.56 million ARB and 8,425 Ether (ETH) to a temporary wallet; further transfers require another council action or an Arbitrum DAO vote.
The remaining tracking focus includes about 195,000 ETH, some deposited into Aave, and 18,270 Bitcoin (BTC). These native assets cannot be frozen through token-contract controls, which issuers used to block some of the other funds.
Simon Yoon
ReporterSimon Yoon reports on blockchain technology for TokenPost. Send corrections or tips to info@tokenpost.com.