Binance customers withdrew more than $3.6bn (£2.7bn) of assets from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange as it reopened on Sunday following a record hack last week. The firm suspended all transactions in the wake of the incident, which impacted $6.3bn worth of digital assets.
Investigation and Security Measures
Major organisations, including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have accused North Korea of being responsible for the cyber attack, which is said to be the largest hack in history. The company stated it has covered around 95% of the assets stolen in the breach, but that the remaining amount may take longer to source. Binance has repeatedly stated it would cover all of the losses linked to the attack.
There was an initial spike in withdrawals, which later declined and are stabilising as expected, Binance posted on X. It added that withdrawals for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have resumed and that more services will resume in phases once security checks are completed.
Impact on Operations and Scale
The hack hit Binance’s global centralised exchange, Binance.com, while its US-facing platform has stated it has not been affected by the issue. Binance stated last week that early checks suggest the incident may have started with a compromised laptop that belonged to an engineer, allowing hackers to find a way to make unauthorised transactions.
The crypto withdrawn represents just a fraction of total assets held by Binance, which stated in 2024 that it had more than $160bn in assets in its custody. Cryptocurrencies are digital assets traded on exchanges such as Binance, and unlike cash, they do not exist in physical form, being managed on computers, smartphones and other digital devices.
Binance was founded in China and serves hundreds of millions of registered users globally.
