Binance Faces US$3.64 Billion in Withdrawals After Record US$6.3 Billion Hack
Customers withdrew US$3.64 billion from Binance after the exchange resumed operations following a US$6.3 billion theft attributed by the FBI to North Korean hackers. Binance has covered 95 per cent of the stolen assets using company funds and frozen approximately US$3 billion, though President Donald Trump questioned North Korea's involvement.
Hackers stole US$6.3 billion from Binance in a theft that unfolded over approximately 20 minutes beginning late on Thursday, an incident analysts believe may be the biggest financial robbery ever. After the exchange went back online, customers withdrew US$3.64 billion, representing 2.1 per cent of its assets. Crypto analytics platform DefiLlama reported higher outflows of US$4.36 billion.
The FBI linked the attack to a North Korean state-sponsored unit known as TraderTraitor. However, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that it remained unclear whether North Korea was involved in the hack.
Binance stated it had covered 95 per cent of the US$6.3 billion in stolen assets using company money to buy replacement tokens. Co-CEO Yi He announced that Binance would use 50 per cent of its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) to cover losses and committed to replenishing the fund to about US$1 billion.
About US$3 billion of the affected assets were located and frozen as of Friday through cooperation with other crypto firms. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao thanked US law enforcement agencies for helping track and freeze the stolen assets.