Binance Recovers Most of $6.3 Billion Loss

Binance customers withdrew $3.64 billion in the hours following the exchange's return to service on Sunday. This amount represents 2.1% of the platform's total assets. The withdrawals occurred after hackers stole $6.3 billion from the service last week.

The FBI attributed the heist to a North Korean state-sponsored unit known as TraderTraitor. The attack began late Thursday and lasted approximately 20 minutes. Analysts at TRM Labs and Chainalysis noted similarities between this breach and previous large-scale attacks linked to Pyongyang. The FBI stated that members of the unit converted stolen assets into ether and expected further laundering to follow.

Binance said it had covered 95% of the stolen assets by Sunday. The exchange used company funds to purchase replacement tokens for the missing cryptocurrency. Co-CEO Yi He announced on Saturday that Binance would utilize 50% of its Secure Asset Fund for Users to cover the shortfall. The company committed to replenishing the SAFU fund to its previous level of $1 billion. The remaining 5% of stolen assets consists of less liquid tokens that may take longer to source.

Net outflows were calculated as of 1530 GMT. Crypto analytics firm DefiLlama reported higher outflows of $4.36 billion on its dashboard. A Binance spokesperson stated that the DefiLlama figure was inaccurate because it did not account for deposits made to a new hot wallet. The exchange said it would process withdrawals in phases based on user demand. The first phase included 15 tokens, such as bitcoin, ether, and USDC stablecoins.

President Trump commented on the incident on Saturday, stating it remained unclear whether North Korea was involved. He said the United States would engage with Pyongyang if North Korean involvement was confirmed. The North Korean mission in Geneva and its embassy in China did not respond to requests for comment. Pyongyang has historically denied using state-linked cyber units for financial theft.

Richard Teng, the other co-CEO, described the breach as a complex attack. He said the intruders used a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to delete evidence. Binance worked with other crypto firms to freeze affected assets, locating approximately $3 billion as of Friday. The exchange set aside $6.34 billion in company funds to bear the financial impact of the hack.

Binance reported $171 billion in total assets under management as of October 28. The platform has 335 million registered users globally. Founder Changpeng Zhao thanked US law enforcement agencies for their assistance in tracking and freezing stolen assets. Zhao noted that the agencies provided vital help that prevented a larger drop in bitcoin prices.

Crypto prices fell on Friday as the exchange sought to reassure customers that their funds were safe. Binance stated that deposit volumes remained substantial even after the initial spike in withdrawals. The exchange said withdrawals were stabilizing as it continued to process user requests in phases.