The exchange says it has replaced most of the stolen crypto from its own funds, but customers pulled out $3.6 billion more than they put in after the restart.
On Sunday, Binance resumed cryptocurrency withdrawals, less than 72 hours after hackers looted approximately $6.3 billion from the platform’s hot wallets. According to investigators, this incident stands as the biggest digital currency heist in history. Shortly after services were restored, users pulled out billions more than they deposited, although the firm noted that activity eventually stabilized following an initial surge.
The world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume says it has replaced about 95% of the stolen assets with its own money and will not pass the loss on to users. “Binance will absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds, not our users,” the company said in its Nov. 1 recovery update.
How the theft unfolded
According to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, most of the money left Binance-controlled wallets in about 20 minutes starting at 20:05 UTC on Oct. 29, with a second wave about three hours later. The attacker moved funds across 10 blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Solana and the XRP Ledger. TRM’s analysis values the haul at about $6.36 billion at the prices when each transfer happened. That figure includes 18,270 bitcoin and more than 200,000 ether, and it is about four times the $1.5 billion taken from rival Bybit in February 2025.
Binance’s initial discoveries suggest a breached laptop owned by a DevOps specialist. The trading platform reported that the intruder leveraged it to access a service container and execute unauthorized withdrawals. Afterward, the company noted that forensics experts uncovered supplementary access vectors, while continuously maintaining that no proof exists of a private key compromise concerning the digital wallets. According to TRM, the malicious actor utilized a pre-authorized delegation mechanism on Ethereum to convert a hot wallet into a sweeper. An exhaustive post-incident assessment has been pledged upon the conclusion of the probe.
| Date (UTC) | Development |
|---|---|
| Oct. 29, 20:05 | Outflows from Binance hot wallets begin |
| Oct. 30 | Binance puts impact at about $6.3 billion, says about $3 billion is frozen, pauses withdrawals |
| Oct. 31 | FBI names North Korea’s TraderTraitor; Binance reports 90% of losses replenished and takes a reserves snapshot |
| Nov. 1, 06:00 | Phase one of withdrawals opens; all 15 initial networks live by 12:36 |
| Nov. 2 | Binance completes reserve proof for 10 major tokens |
Who is being blamed
The attribution comes from investigators, not from Binance. TRM said the attack was carried out by TraderTraitor, a North Korean state hacking unit. “We make this judgment with high confidence,” the firm wrote. Chainalysis chief executive Jonathan Levin said the group was the likely culprit, citing links to earlier thefts.
On Oct. 31, the FBI publicly attributed the theft to North Korea and named TraderTraitor, the same group it blamed for the Bybit hack. The bureau said the hackers were converting stolen tokens into ether ahead of further laundering, and it urged crypto businesses to block transactions tied to the group’s addresses.
Frozen funds and the cost of making users whole
About half of the stolen value has been immobilized, mostly because stablecoin issuers can lock tokens on their own networks. Binance said roughly $3 billion had been frozen with help from blockchain partners. Tether said it froze about $1.6 billion in USDT and Circle more than $800 million in USDC, AFP reported. TRM’s tally, which also counts freezes by Ripple and World Liberty Financial and an intervention by Arbitrum’s Security Council, came to about $2.7 billion. Bitcoin and ether cannot be frozen in the same way. When TRM published its analysis, it estimated that about $2.4 billion was still under the attackers’ control.
Binance’s balance sheet is bearing the weight of covering the remaining deficit. The exchange disclosed that upwards of $6.34 billion in proprietary capital has been allocated. According to an Oct. 31 update, these funds stem from its corporate treasury, a segment of its futures insurance fund, and a partial withdrawal from SAFU, an emergency safety net established back in 2018. Data cited by Cointelegraph indicates that Binance transferred 7,499 bitcoin out of the SAFU wallet on that date, which accounts for roughly half of its reserves there. The firm stated its intention to replenish the pool to approximately $1 billion, though a specific timeline remains undisclosed. The final 5% of the shortfall consists of less liquid digital assets that are currently being acquired through open markets and over-the-counter channels.
Withdrawals come back, and users put the platform to the test
Withdrawals were reactivated incrementally beginning at 06:00 UTC on November 1, with priority given to tokens experiencing the highest demand throughout the preceding week, such as bitcoin, ether, BNB, XRP, and prominent stablecoins. Bloomberg reported that by 12:36 UTC, all 15 networks included in this initial wave were fully operational. Binance indicated that additional cryptocurrencies will be integrated once safety protocols are finalized, although a comprehensive timeline remains unreleased.
Customers moved quickly. Between 06:00 and 15:30 UTC on Sunday, Binance processed about $4.65 billion in withdrawals against $1.01 billion in deposits, for net outflows of $3.64 billion, according to figures the company shared. That equals about 2.1% of the $171 billion in assets Binance said it held on Oct. 28. Third-party trackers such as DefiLlama showed larger 24-hour drops. Binance co-chief executive Yi He said some of those flows were transfers between the exchange’s own wallets.
Regarding its reserves, Binance announced on Monday that cryptographic verification had been finalized for an October 31 snapshot encompassing 10 assets, such as bitcoin, ether, and USDT, with every single one supported at a minimum 1:1 ratio. That particular snapshot occurred prior to Sunday’s withdrawals. An upcoming snapshot featuring additional tokens is scheduled for November 4.
Market reaction
Prices fell as news of the theft spread. Bitcoin and ether dropped nearly 5% and 6% before recovering much of the decline, and Binance’s BNB token briefly fell nearly 10%, AFP reported. By Monday, bitcoin was trading around $77,500 to $78,000, roughly 5% below its level before the attack.
The tests ahead are whether the remaining networks reopen on time, whether the next reserve snapshot holds up after the outflows, and how much of the frozen money is eventually returned. Law enforcement has not said how much it expects to recover.
