Binance customers pull $3.6bn as withdrawals reopen after record hack

Customers of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, withdrew a net $3.6bn after it reopened withdrawals on Sunday, November 1, following the record $6.3bn hack that hit it days earlier.

Across 15 blockchains, users withdrew $4.65bn in assets and deposited $1.01bn, leaving a net outflow of $3.6bn, Binance said. The company put that at about 2.1 percent of its assets, and said withdrawal volumes were declining and stabilising after an initial spike. Separate data from the analytics site DefiLlama suggested net outflows of about $4.9bn by Monday morning.

A phased reopening

Withdrawals began reopening at 06:00 UTC on Sunday, starting with bitcoin, as each blockchain network cleared security checks. Binance said withdrawals for more cryptocurrencies would reopen from 04:00 UTC on Tuesday, November 3.

Who is paying

Binance said it had replaced 95 percent of the affected amount with its own money, drawn from its Secure Asset Fund for Users, its futures insurance fund and its corporate treasury. About $3bn of the stolen funds have been frozen, much of it by stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle.

North Korea blamed

The FBI said on Saturday that North Korea was behind the attack. Blockchain analysis firms had already linked it to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit associated with the Lazarus Group. North Korea routinely denies involvement in hacking.

Why the outflow matters

When exchanges are hacked, the biggest danger is often a "bank run", as customers rush to pull their money out at once. Binance's ability to process billions in withdrawals without freezing again suggests it has enough reserves to cover its customers, which analysts described as a reassuring sign.

Still, the theft, about four times the previous record, is a reminder of the risks of keeping large sums on any exchange. Security experts advise long-term holders to consider wallets they control themselves.