Binance sees spike in withdrawals after $6.3-billion heist — SkimNews
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- Binance customers pulled US$3.64 billion, or 2.1% of the exchange’s assets, when the platform resumed service Sunday; Binance said withdrawals were stabilizing and deposit volumes remained “substantial.”
- Binance said it had covered 95% of the US$6.3 billion stolen and reserved about US$6.34 billion in company funds, drawing on SAFU, its Futures Insurance Fund and corporate treasury to buy replacement tokens; the remaining 5% consisted of less-liquid assets.
- FBI attributed the attack to North Korea’s state-sponsored TraderTraitor unit, while TRM Labs and Chainalysis had also pointed to North Korean involvement; law enforcement observed members converting stolen assets into ether and said it expected further laundering through related technology.
- Trump said it remained unclear whether North Korea was involved, telling reporters, “We don’t know if it’s North Korea,” despite the FBI’s attribution to the country’s TraderTraitor unit.
- Binance said it was working with other crypto firms to freeze affected assets and that about US$3 billion of the stolen holdings had been located as of Friday.
- Richard Teng described the breach as a “complex attack” involving a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to delete evidence, which he said made tracing and investigation harder.
- DefiLlama reported US$4.36 billion in outflows, while Binance said that figure excluded deposits into its own new hot wallet and therefore did not accurately reflect both deposits and withdrawals.
Why it matters: Binance bears the immediate financial burden: it says 95% of the US$6.3 billion theft is covered, yet customers pulled 2.1% of assets. That divergence turns withdrawals into a direct test of trust while about US$3 billion of affected holdings have been located and the FBI said it expected further laundering.
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