Binance Restores Crypto Withdrawals Following Historic $6.3 Billion Security Breach
Binance has reopened crypto withdrawals after a $6.3 billion exploit attributed by the FBI to North Korean hackers.
Binance Restores Crypto Withdrawals Following Historic $6.3 Billion Security Breach
Binance has reopened crypto withdrawals after a $6.3 billion exploit attributed by the FBI to North Korean hackers.
Controlled Rollout of Asset Withdrawals
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance initiated its Binance withdrawal restoration on November 1, reopening outbound transactions following a unprecedented security breach three days prior. The exchange temporarily suspended withdrawal services after malicious actors stole roughly $6.3 billion worth of assets from its hot wallets on October 29. According to reports from BeInCrypto and U.Today, Bitcoin was selected as the first network to resume operations in a managed rollout.
The exchange scheduled the initial phase of withdrawal availability between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC on November 1, selecting 15 separate blockchain networks. The restoration covers prominent blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP Ledger, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, Tron, and Dogecoin. Additional networks approved for withdrawal include Avalanche, Sui, Zcash, Polygon, and Arbitrum, along with major stablecoins like Tether and USD Coin on multiple chains. Deposit services remained active throughout the crisis period.
Reserve Allocations and Asset Recovery Efforts
To safeguard impacted users, Binance announced that it has backed balances for high-liquidity assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, BNB, USDT, USDC, Zcash, USD1, and Ripple USD. As reported by BeInCrypto, the exchange revealed it has already covered approximately 95% of stolen funds from its internal reserves, an increase from a previously reported 90% recovery figure. Binance noted that the unrecovered 5% balance comprises illiquid digital assets that present sourcing challenges on the open market.
Prior to the withdrawal rollout, The Block reported that Binance earmarked $6.34 billion to offset losses incurred from the incident. Furthermore, collaborative efforts among industry partners resulted in the freezing of an additional $3 billion in stolen funds across various platforms.
Law Enforcement Attribution and DeFi Exploitation
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, working alongside the Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation, officially attributed the exploit to the North Korean state-sponsored group TraderTraitor. In an October 31 alert detailed by CryptoSlate, federal authorities noted that perpetrators converted a substantial portion of stolen funds into Ethereum with plans to obscure ownership via decentralized protocols and instant swap venues.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis discovered that the attackers actively utilized Tron-based decentralized lending protocols to bypass stablecoin freezes. By converting TRX to stablecoins, depositing them into lending protocols, and generating unfreezable deposit receipt tokens, the hackers successfully bridged funds back into Ethereum. Separately, an unexpected technical glitch on THORChain temporarily disrupted laundering attempts after an Ethereum reorg triggered a double refund error, forcing a brief emergency pause on cross-chain swaps.
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