India, Oct. 30 -- LONDON - Cryptocurrency markets plunged into turmoil as digital assets worth billions of dollars were abruptly frozen while Binance, one of the world's largest digital asset exchanges, scrambled to contain a catastrophic security breach.

Blockchain analytics firms estimate that the security incident compromised assets scaling into billions, potentially eclipsing all previous digital heists in the history of decentralised finance. As panic rippled through global trading desks, Bitcoin tumbled sharply below $78,000, hitting a multi-week low as investors evaluated the systemic implications of the breach. "Our teams are aware of reports of a potential security issue and are actively investigating," a Binance spokesperson to...