Binance says resuming withdrawals after major hack

Binance announced on Sunday that withdrawals have resumed following a major hack that compromised over US$6 billion in funds. The exchange, which is the world's largest by daily trading volumes, had previously suspended user withdrawals due to the attack. The first batch of network withdrawals began with the Bitcoin network, as stated on the company's official X account.

Earlier reports indicated that Binance was preparing to resume the first phase of withdrawals between 0600 and 0900 GMT on Sunday. The company explained its phased approach, prioritizing tokens based on user demand from the past week to ensure a careful, stable, and secure reopening of each network and asset pair.

Binance disclosed on Saturday that it had allocated more than US$6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses from the hack, which is believed to be the largest crypto heist in history. The firm emphasized that user funds remain secure and that it will absorb the financial impact of the stolen assets, not the users. The FBI linked the attack to North Korea, confirming earlier suspicions from private investigators and analysts that a group called TraderTraitor, believed to be Pyongyang-affiliated, was responsible.

The hack follows a series of high-profile cyber thefts linked to North Korea, a hacking operation that has amassed a significant amount of funds potentially used to finance its weapons program. These developments led to a sharp drop in the prices of most major cryptocurrencies on Friday.