Binance to resume crypto withdrawals in phases after record $6 billion hack

Binance announced on Sunday that it would resume customer withdrawals in stages following a significant cryptocurrency theft exceeding $6 billion, which led to the suspension of transactions across the exchange. The first phase of withdrawals resuming began at 2 p.m. Singapore time on November 1, with further assets restored after security and stability assessments.

Binance prioritized asset restoration based on the withdrawal demand from customers over the previous week, enabling a gradual reopening of services instead of a simultaneous reopening of all transactions. The announcement came after a disclosed breach on Thursday that resulted in the halt of withdrawals early Friday in Asia, with the FBI attributing the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking group, which had previously been linked to the $1.5 billion theft from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in 2025.

Binance reported that it had replaced approximately 90% of the stolen cryptocurrencies and reassured customers that they would not suffer financial losses. The stolen assets comprised Bitcoin, Ether, and dollar-backed stablecoins USDT and USDC. Co-CEO Richard Teng stated that Binance could cover the losses using its cryptocurrency holdings accumulated from operating revenue, while Co-CEO Yi He indicated that the exchange's annual revenue would be sufficient to absorb the financial impact.

Bitcoin's price traded near $77,700 on Sunday, around 5% below its Thursday high prior to the attack, as major cryptocurrencies experienced relatively limited price fluctuations. Binance holds approximately $135 billion in assets, substantially surpassing the $29 billion held by rival OKX, as per DefiLlama data. The exchange maintains a Secure Asset Fund for Users, established in 2018 to safeguard customers during exceptional incidents, which has typically been maintained near $1 billion.

Investigators are scrutinizing a potentially compromised software engineer’s laptop and other possible entry points, although Binance stated it had found no evidence that private wallet keys had been exposed. The incident has heightened scrutiny of cryptocurrency security amid concerns that hackers are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence for reconnaissance and social engineering.