Binance has resumed customer withdrawals following a record $6.3 billion hack that suspended services last week. The world's largest crypto exchange began a phased restoration of services on Sunday, initially allowing withdrawals for ethereum, USDT, and USDC holders on the Ethereum blockchain, and BNB Smart Chain assets. Later that day, it extended access to holders of other tokens including dogecoin and solana on their respective blockchains.
The company stated its approach prioritized tokens based on recent user demand while completing stability and security checks for each network-asset pair. Binance said users might experience temporary delays due to high traffic volume. The exchange established a reimbursement fund covering 95% of stolen assets, financed from its own revenues and an emergency fund, while working to recover the remaining 5% of less liquid tokens.
The FBI attributed the attack to the North Korea-linked hacking group Trader Traitor, noting expectations the funds would be converted and laundered. Binance's initial investigation identified a compromised engineer's laptop as the entry point, though it later discovered additional breach points. The company is cooperating with law enforcement and blockchain analytics firms to investigate the incident and plans to publish a full report of its findings.
Richard Teng, co-chief executive of Binance, emphasized the resumption of withdrawals as a major milestone while confirming the company continues strengthening safeguards and completing the recovery process.
Source: Financial Times Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing