Binance Reopens Bitcoin Withdrawals Three Days After Record Hack, With FBI Blaming North Korea

Binance began reopening withdrawals Sunday, three days after a record $6.3 billion hack, as the exchange said it has used company funds to replace about 95% of the stolen crypto and the FBI formally blamed North Korea for the theft.

The restart is the first test of whether customers return after the largest crypto heist on record, which sent prices of most major cryptocurrencies sharply lower Friday. Binance said the reopening will come in stages as each blockchain network clears security checks. “Resuming withdrawals is a major milestone, but our work continues,” the exchange said.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) was the first network to reopen. As of 5 a.m. Eastern, Binance had also restored withdrawals for ether (CRYPTO: $ETH), BNB (CRYPTO: $BNB), XRP, Dogecoin (CRYPTO: $DOGE), Base and Optimism, according to reports, and the first phase covers assets across 15 blockchain networks. The exchange said it will “continue to restore additional assets and networks in phases as security checks are completed.”

Binance said it has bought replacement tokens through market and over-the-counter channels, drawing on its Secure Asset Fund for Users, its futures insurance fund and its corporate treasury. Co-CEO Richard Teng said the company has set aside more than $6.34 billion in total, and co-CEO Yi He said half of the user-protection fund would be spent and later refilled to about $1 billion, Reuters reported. The coverage rose from about 80% to 90% to 95% in successive updates, with the remaining gap involving less liquid tokens. Binance said it will absorb the losses, not its users. It has also worked with industry partners to freeze about $3 billion of the stolen assets, and it took a proof-of-reserves snapshot Oct. 31 and expects to publish the full proof by Nov. 3.

The FBI said Saturday that North Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance on or about Oct. 29, confirming earlier suspicions from private investigators. The bureau said the TraderTraitor group, which it also tied to the $1.5 billion Bybit theft in February last year, has been converting the stolen assets into Ethereum and is expected to launder them further through decentralized finance and instant swap services. It urged private companies to block transactions with addresses linked to the laundering.