Binance Resumes Withdrawals After $6.3 Billion Breach

Phased Withdrawal Process Begins

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced early Sunday that it would begin allowing withdrawals in a phased process, following a massive security breach that disrupted operations.

Recovery Efforts and Asset Coverage

The company had frozen all deposits and withdrawals after hackers stole $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency from Binance wallets. In its latest update, Binance said it has now covered 95% of the stolen assets and is still working to acquire the "remaining affected assets," which are "less liquid in the market and take longer time to source at the required scale."

"Our commitment remains unchanged: Binance will bear the financial impact of the stolen funds," the company added. "These losses will not be passed on to users."

Withdrawal Freeze Explained

Regarding the withdrawal freeze, Binance stated it did not make the decision lightly, understanding "how important reliable access to withdrawals is for our users." Nevertheless, the company described it as a necessary "precaution while our teams worked to contain the incident loss, assess its impact, restore affected services, and complete security checks."

Current Withdrawal Status

Binance will resume supporting withdrawals in phases, depending on network and asset type. As of Sunday morning, the company's network status page showed a mix of normal, partially suspended, and fully suspended statuses. For example, Bitcoin withdrawals and deposits remain listed as partially suspended, while Ethereum deposits are normal and withdrawals are partially suspended.

The company also cautioned users to expect "temporary delays or longer processing times due to traffic volume."

Ongoing Security Commitment

"Resuming withdrawals is a major milestone, but our work continues," Binance said. "We will continue strengthening our safeguards, completing the recovery process, and providing updates as progress continues."

The company also announced it will publish a more in-depth incident report once its investigation is complete.

Attribution to North Korea

Binance previously blamed North Korean hackers for the breach. On Saturday, the FBI confirmed that a North Korean group known as TraderTraitor was responsible, and that the group was converting the assets primarily into Ethereum, with further laundering likely.

via TechCrunch