Binance freezes $2.5 billion in assets amid suspected hack as Bitcoin drops below $79,000

Binance has frozen $2.54 billion in digital assets and suspended withdrawals on multiple networks while investigating a suspected major exchange hack.

Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle froze over $1.5 billion in USDT and $800 million in USDC respectively, linked to the potential security exploit.

Bitcoin dropped 3.7% to below $79,000 following the incident, reaching its lowest price level since September amidst broader cryptocurrency market sell-offs.