Binance sees spike in withdrawals as exchange returns online after US$6.3 billion hack
Binance customers pulled US$3.64 billion, or 2.1 per cent of its assets, as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange went back online on Sunday after hackers the FBI links to North Korea stole billions from the platform last week. Binance said withdrawals were stabilising after an initial spike and deposit volumes had remained “substantial”. The exchange said it had now covered 95 per cent of…
Binance's customers withdrew US$3.64 billion, which amounts to 2.1% of the exchange's total assets, following the platform's return to operation after a hack that resulted in the loss of US$6.3 billion. The exchange's withdrawals appeared to stabilize after an initial surge, while deposits remained substantial. Binance had covered 95% of the stolen funds using company resources to purchase replacement tokens.
The remaining 5% of stolen tokens were less liquid and may take longer to recover. Analysts believe this is the largest financial robbery ever recorded. The attack, believed to be sponsored by North Korea, involved the theft of US$2.9 billion across 150 incidents in 2022. Binance operates globally with 335 million registered users and US$171 billion in total assets under management.
The exchange has set aside US$6.34 billion to cover the losses, with US$6.3 billion coming from its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) reserve and other funds. Binance revealed it had covered US$6 billion of stolen cryptocurrency using company money to purchase replacement tokens.
Written by urgent.news from SCMP Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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