Bitcoin fell below $78,000 on Friday as cryptocurrency exchange Binance said it was investigating reports of a potential security issue, according to CNBC¹.

CNBC said the largest cryptocurrency dropped more than 4% to $77,994.96, extending losses after it broke below $80,000¹. Ether fell 4.84% to $2,247.45, and Binance's BNB token fell 7.68% to $694.45, the outlet reported¹.

Several firms, including Circle and Tether, froze a combined $2.54 billion in funds linked to a suspected incident on Thursday, CNBC said¹. It attributed to Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire a freeze of more than $800 million in USD Coin, and to Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino a halt on more than $1.5 billion in USDT possibly connected to the incident¹.

Ripple helped prevent movement of $200 million linked to the suspected attack, according to Binance co-founder Yi He, CNBC reported¹. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence identified nearly $6 billion across 55 wallet addresses potentially associated with the incident, suggesting the scale could exceed the amount frozen, the report said¹.

Binance has not explicitly confirmed a hack, CNBC said¹. A Binance spokesperson said: "Our teams are aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating," adding that user funds remained safe¹. Founder Changpeng Zhao sought to reassure investors that customer funds were secure, though he said the incident appeared to be a hack, according to CNBC¹.

CNBC said the episode renewed industry security concerns after a roughly $1.5 billion Bybit hack in 2025 and a more recent Bitget theft of more than $350 million¹. What occurred on Binance's systems, whether a breach is confirmed, and how much of the Arkham-linked balance is actually compromised remain unestablished on this record¹.

Sources

1. CNBCBitcoin tumbles below $78,000, extending losses as Binance security scare rattles crypto markets8:40 PM

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