Binance reopened selected crypto withdrawals Nov. 1 after a hot-wallet breach it estimates caused $6.3 billion in token losses, restoring some access while it says it will absorb the cost.
Binance had said the suspension was a precaution while it contained and assessed the incident. Deposits and other unaffected services continued to operate, the exchange said.
The first phase included selected assets across networks such as Ethereum and Sui. Binance later named Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), BNB, Tron (TRX), Solana (SOL) and XRP among assets whose withdrawals were available, along with other selections. The exchange identified Sui as a network in the initial rollout. Binance said it ordered the restart based on withdrawal demand from the previous week, then cleared each asset and network pair through separate security and stability reviews. It cautioned that heavy traffic might slow processing as services returned.
Binance reported that it had obtained about 95% of the affected assets by Nov. 1. It said the outstanding 5% consisted of less-liquid tokens outside the top 10 assets it listed. The exchange said users would not carry the financial impact and said it would draw on company funds, the Secure Asset Fund for Users and the Futures Insurance Fund to cover the loss. EconoTimes previously covered the commitment in its report on Binance’s pledge to absorb the losses.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said North Korea was responsible for stealing more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance on or around Oct. 29, and identified the activity as TraderTraitor. The bureau said the stolen assets were being converted mainly into Ether and expected further laundering through decentralized finance and instant-swap services.
Binance expects to publish a full proof-of-reserves report Tuesday, Nov. 3, following a snapshot completed Oct. 31. The exchange said generating the report takes about 40 to 50 hours.
