Binance covers 90 per cent of assets stolen in $6.3 billion hack
The cryptocurrency exchange is using company reserves to replace stolen tokens and plans to resume customer withdrawals on Sunday.
Binance has replaced 90 per cent of the assets stolen during a record $6.3 billion cyberattack, according to reports by Hindustan Times, Business Standard and Mint. The cryptocurrency exchange stated it has used its own funds to purchase replacement tokens and will continue to do so until all stolen holdings are fully replaced.
The company said it has internally allocated approximately $6.34 billion to cover the losses. To replenish the assets, Binance used its corporate treasury, its Futures insurance fund, and part of its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). Co-CEO Yi He said 50 per cent of the SAFU funds would be used, with the company committing to replenish the fund back to about $1 billion.
The remaining 10 per cent of the stolen amount consists of less liquid assets that may take longer to source. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng stated that the hackers targeted corporate holdings rather than individual customer accounts and assured users that they would not bear the financial impact.
The FBI said on Saturday that a North Korean state-sponsored unit known as TraderTraitor was responsible for the attack. US officials, including the US Secret Service, are investigating the breach to identify and recover the stolen funds.
Binance has taken a new Proof of Reserves snapshot dated October 31 to allow users to verify that assets remain backed at a minimum 1:1 ratio. The exchange said it remains on schedule to resume customer withdrawals on Sunday, November 1, subject to final operational checks.