Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said Sunday that it had begun allowing users to withdraw money, three days after it froze assets in the wake of a cyberattack. Withdrawals initially spiked, as the exchange saw an outflow of $3.64 billion, but then stabilized, Binance said. The movement was relatively small, representing just 2.1 percent of the $171 billion in assets that it manages.
The announcement was an effort to reassure Binance’s users after hackers stole $6.3 billion in digital coins on Thursday, in what appears to be the biggest crypto heist to date. In the wake of the hack, Binance halted withdrawals.
Binance said that it would cover all losses that occurred during the hack and that it had worked with other cryptocurrency firms to freeze about $3 billion in stolen assets. Cybersecurity analysts and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have attributed the hack to North Korea, which has targeted cryptocurrency companies for years.
“Trust isn’t earned by what you say in good times. It’s earned by what you do in hard times,” Changpeng Zhao, a co-founder of Binance, said in a post on X on Sunday.
Source: New York Times Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing