Binance Says It Replaced 90% Of Stolen Crypto

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Saturday it had replaced 90 per cent of the assets taken in a $6.3 billion US hack that the FBI attributes to North Korea. The remaining 10 per cent covers tokens the exchange described as less liquid, which it said could take longer to buy. "We've now replenished 90 per cent of the stolen assets, and we're committed to covering the remaining 10 per cent. Our users will not bear the financial impact of this incident," co-CEO Richard Teng said on X on Saturday.

The FBI said on Saturday that TraderTraitor, a state-sponsored North Korean unit, carried out the attack. Law enforcement observed members of the unit converting stolen assets into ethereum, the bureau said in a statement, adding that it expects "further laundering" of those assets through related technology. The hack occurred as crypto prices fell on Friday.

Teng said on Friday the breach was a "complex attack" that involved a compromised laptop and malicious software built to erase evidence of its activity, complicating tracing and investigation. Binance halted customer withdrawals after the incident. It said on Saturday that reopening withdrawals remained on track for Sunday.

The exchange said it had set aside roughly $6.34 billion of company funds to cover losses. The repurchases drew on part of its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users, a bitcoin reserve held for security breaches, along with some of its Futures Insurance Fund and its corporate treasury, it said on X.

Binance took a new snapshot of assets held on its platform as of 00:00 GMT on Oct. 31 as part of its proof-of-reserves process. The exchange said holders of BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC could verify their assets were backed at a minimum ratio of 1:1 once the full proof was available.