The market has largely moved past the initial shock. BNB has bounced off its low and bitcoin is steady near $78,800, which suggests traders see the freezes and CZ’s pledge as limiting the damage to Binance itself. The next risk is supply. The attacker holds more than $1 billion in ether and has already been selling smaller tokens on decentralised exchanges, so large ETH sales could weigh on ether’s price. Partial withdrawal pauses at the world’s biggest exchange also tighten liquidity before Friday’s monthly options expiry on Deribit at 08:00 GMT.---Earlier:Binance appears hacked, CZ says, as Tether and Circle freeze $1.79B in stablecoinsTether freezes $971M USDT amid suspected Binance hack as crypto sells off---Binance has stopped part of its withdrawals and stablecoin issuers have locked up $2.4 billion, but the ether that got away keeps this suspected hack on course to be crypto’s largest.Summary:Binance temporarily paused withdrawals on multiple networks after more than $3 billion was drained from its Ethereum hot wallets on 29 October.Tether froze more than 1.567 billion USDT and Circle more than 800 million USDC, about $2.4 billion in total. More than $1 billion, mostly ether, remains unfrozen.Binance says user funds are completely safe but hasn’t called it a hack or given a loss figure. CZ says it looks like a hack and expects losses to be covered.The attacker used EIP-7702, an Ethereum feature that lets a wallet run contract code, from an address funded through Tornado Cash.BNB fell to about $692 before recovering to around $704. Bitcoin is near $78,800.If confirmed, the theft would more than double Bybit’s record $1.5 billion hack in 2025.Binance has paused withdrawals on several networks after more than $3 billion was drained from its Ethereum hot wallets late on Thursday, 29 October, in what co-founder Changpeng Zhao says looks like a hack. Tether and Circle have together frozen about $2.4 billion in stablecoins, but more than $1 billion, mostly ether, remains out of reach.Binance spokesperson Ross O’Leary told TechCrunch the exchange had temporarily suspended withdrawals on multiple networks as a precaution. Binance has said user funds are completely safe and that withdrawals will resume once the security issue is fully resolved. It has not used the word hack, given a loss figure or explained how the funds left. An early version of its statement on X said it had not confirmed any impact on user funds, and it was later edited to say funds were safe, FinanceFeeds reported.Zhao, who stepped down as chief executive in 2023 but remains Binance’s largest shareholder, said user funds are safe and that he expects them to be fully covered. Tech-ish reported that he later put the loss after freezes at about $1 billion, possibly a little higher, and said Binance would cover it.The freezes are larger than first reported. Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino said more than 1.567 billion USDT had been frozen, up from the roughly $971 million Zhao cited earlier. Circle said it froze more than 800 million USDC in coordination with law enforcement. About 700 million USDT left the receiving address before Tether’s blacklist took effect, and much of it was swapped into ether, according to Tech-ish.On-chain data points to an outside attacker. A wallet labelled Binance 14 was linked to a smart contract set up by an address funded through Tornado Cash, a crypto mixing service. The attacker used EIP-7702, an Ethereum feature that lets an ordinary wallet run contract code. Minutes later, a single transaction moved about 167,000 ETH, roughly 1.6 billion USDT and 62 other tokens to a new address. The attacker has since been selling tokens the stablecoin issuers cannot freeze, including UNI and PEPE, on decentralised exchanges. Some tallies circulating on X put total outflows above $5 billion, but those include bitcoin and Tron movements not yet tied to the attacker.Crypto markets steadied after the initial drop. BNB, Binance’s own token used for trading-fee discounts and fees on its affiliated BNB Chain, fell from about $739 to a low near $692 before recovering to about $704 by 22:15 GMT, CryptoTicker data showed. Bitcoin was near $78,800 and ether around $2,265. About $628 million in leveraged positions were liquidated within an hour, mostly longs.If confirmed, the Ethereum transfers alone would more than double the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit in February 2025, the largest crypto theft on record, which the FBI attributed to North Korea. Traders will watch for a formal Binance loss figure and reimbursement plan, whether the attacker dumps its ether on the market, and how quickly withdrawals reopen. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.