Tether freezes $1.5 billion in 30 minutes after Binance hack, but $729 million escapes
Summary
Tether says it froze more than $1.5 billion in USDT within 30 minutes of the Oct. 29 Binance hack, part of an estimated $1.76 billion ultimately immobilized. Bitquery found about $729 million in stolen USDT escaped freezes, with attackers converting funds into other tokens; one wallet also used USDT as collateral on Aave to borrow roughly $45 million in ETH. Across interventions, about $2.7 billion was secured, while attackers retained an estimated $3 billion, mostly in Bitcoin and Ethereum, as of Nov. 2. The case shows issuer-controlled freezes can disrupt theft but cannot recover assets already moved into other cryptocurrencies. The destination and legal status of the frozen funds remain unclear.
