Binance set a phased withdrawal restart for Nov. 1 after a security breach it values at about $6.3 billion, which the FBI attributed to North Korea.
The exchange set the initial window for 1 to 4 a.m. ET (06:00 to 09:00 UTC) and said availability would return by asset and network across 15 networks. Reuters reported that withdrawals had resumed, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) included in the first rollout; Binance told users to check each route’s status and said delays were possible.
Binance said it had covered about 95% of the affected amount, up from 90% in its previous update. It attributed the remaining 5% to less-liquid tokens that take longer to source in the required quantities. The exchange said its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and corporate treasury would absorb the losses rather than pass them on to customers.
The FBI said more than $6 billion in virtual assets were stolen on or around Oct. 29 and labeled the activity “TraderTraitor.” The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) said they observed the actors moving stolen assets mainly into Ether. The bureau warned of further laundering through decentralized finance and instant-swap services and urged virtual-asset providers to block transactions tied to addresses in its alert.
Binance said it used the pause to contain the incident, gauge its impact and verify that affected services were safe to restore. It said it would publish a post-incident report after its investigation is complete but gave no date.
