Binance users withdrew nearly $5 billion following the largest crypto theft in history

Binance users withdrew $4.9 billion from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange after it gradually resumed operations on November 1, the Financial Times reports, citing data from the DefiLlama platform. Withdrawals had been suspended on October 29 following a $6.3 billion hack of the exchange. The amount withdrawn by customers is equivalent to nearly 3% of the value of assets held on the exchange the day before the hack.

On November 1, Binance enabled crypto token withdrawals, and on November 2, it began approving fiat withdrawals, including in U.S. dollars and UAE dirhams. As a result, in just the first 9.5 hours after the relaunch, the exchange processed withdrawal requests totaling $4.65 billion and deposits totaling $1.01 billion.

A phased approach was developed so that “each network and asset pair could be restored carefully, with stability and security checks completed before access is reopened.” First, the exchange restored access to Ethereum, USDT, and USDC tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, as well as to assets on the BNB Smart Chain. Other tokens, including Dogecoin and Solana, were added later. Binance explained that it prioritized restoration based on user demand and warned of possible “temporary delays or increased processing times due to high traffic volumes.”

To compensate customers for their losses, the exchange established a fund equal to 95% of the stolen funds, financing it from its own revenues and emergency reserves. The company is buying back the remaining 5% of tokens on the market, noting that they are “less liquid” and require more time to source in the necessary quantities.

The FBI has accused the North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor of attacking Binance, stating that it expects the funds to be converted and “further laundered.” Groups linked to North Korea have become active cryptocurrency thieves in recent years: last year, the FBI accused TraderTraitor of stealing $1.5 billion from the Bybit exchange.

Binance’s initial investigation revealed that one of its engineers’ laptops had been compromised, but additional “points of compromise” were later discovered. Richard Teng, co-director of the platform, said the company is rebuilding and retesting “its entire infrastructure system” and “conducting a comprehensive security audit across the entire company.” The exchange is cooperating with law enforcement and blockchain analysts and has promised to publish a detailed report on the investigation.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor