Binance Restores Withdrawals After Recovering 95% of Stolen Funds
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, reinstated withdrawals for bitcoin, ether, and select stablecoins on Sunday, indicating that additional withdrawals would be reintroduced in phases, following the recovery of 95% of the $6.3 billion in tokens that were taken from its platform. The heist, which the FBI has linked to North Korea and analysts suggest could be the largest financial robbery in history, contributes to a series of recent cryptocurrency thefts. In the previous year, attackers successfully appropriated $2.9 billion in cryptocurrency through nearly 150 distinct incidents, as reported. Binance, originally established in China, announced that the initial phase of withdrawals would encompass 15 cryptocurrency assets, including bitcoin, ether, XRP, and dogecoin. Bitcoin withdrawals resumed shortly after 0600, while ether, BNB, and some USDT and USDC stablecoin withdrawals were also restored.
Binance announced that it had utilised company funds to acquire replacement tokens, thereby covering $6 billion of stolen cryptocurrencies. The remaining 5% of stolen tokens comprises assets that exhibit lower liquidity and may necessitate a longer timeframe to procure in the necessary quantities, as stated by the exchange. The FBI announced on Saturday that the North Korean state-sponsored entity referred to as TraderTraitor was accountable for the attack. For years, Pyongyang has refuted allegations of employing state-affiliated cyber units for purposes of espionage, financial theft, and revenue generation. Its mission in Geneva and its embassy in China failed to provide a response to requests for comment. Law enforcement noted that members of the unit were converting stolen assets into the cryptocurrency ether, according to a statement from the FBI, which also indicated an expectation of “further laundering” of the assets through the utilisation of related technology. Analysts attributed the heist to North Korea. The majority of the theft occurred over a span of approximately 20 minutes, commencing late on Thursday, and exhibited characteristics akin to earlier significant attacks attributed to North Korea, as reported by US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis.
US President Donald Trump, however, stated on Saturday that the United States remained uncertain regarding North Korea’s involvement. “We don’t know if it’s North Korea – but if it is, we’ll talk to North Korea about it,” Trump told on Saturday in comments posted by a White House account on X. Binance has been collaborating with industry partners to freeze certain affected assets, reporting approximately $3 billion identified as of Friday. The exchange has consistently asserted its commitment to absorb the financial repercussions stemming from the funds pilfered in the cyber intrusion. It has allocated approximately $6.34 billion of internal company funds to address the losses. The funds allocated for the acquisition of replacement tokens were sourced from Binance’s $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users, a bitcoin reserve designated to safeguard customers against security breaches. Additionally, contributions were made from its Futures Insurance Fund and corporate treasury, as stated on X. Co-CEO Yi He stated on Saturday that 50% of its SAFU funds would be utilised, while the company pledged to restore the fund to approximately $1 billion. Richard Teng has stated that the breach was a “complex attack” involving a compromised laptop and malicious software intended to erase evidence of its activity, thereby complicating efforts to trace and investigate.
On Friday, cryptocurrency prices experienced a decline, coinciding with Binance’s efforts to reassure its customers regarding the safety of their funds following the recent hack. Binance, a platform facilitating the buying, selling, and trading of digital assets, boasts a global user base of 335 million registered individuals and reported approximately $162.8 billion in assets under custody in its 2025 annual report. In a post on X that referenced the FBI statement regarding North Korea’s involvement, Binance expressed gratitude to the agency for its support. It did not provide a response to an inquiry regarding North Korea’s involvement. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, previously convicted in the US for not upholding an effective anti-money laundering program and later pardoned by Trump, acknowledged the crucial assistance from US law enforcement agencies in tracking and freezing the stolen assets. “A tweet can’t fully express our gratitude. Many crypto bros may not realize, a lot of the ‘why bitcoin didn’t drop more?’ credit goes to them,” Zhao wrote, referring to the US law enforcement agencies.
