Binance sees massive withdrawals after hack reopens
Binance reopened its platform on Sunday after a historic hack that resulted in a $6.3 billion loss. About $3 billion of the stolen funds were frozen while in transit, and the remainder was covered by the company. In the ten hours following the reopening, users withdrew roughly $4.65 billion, while approximately $1 billion in new deposits arrived, indicating a net outflow that left the exchange’s cash flow negative.
The company temporarily suspended withdrawals as a precaution while its teams worked to contain the loss, assess impact, restore services and complete security checks. Since then, deposits have begun to outpace withdrawals, and hourly deposit volumes now exceed withdrawals, suggesting a stabilization of user activity.
As of November 3, total cryptocurrency exchange cash flow remained net negative at about $5 billion, but the gap between withdrawals and deposits has narrowed considerably. Binance warned that users may experience slower system performance as services fully resume.
The FBI has attributed the attack to North Korea and identified a group called TraderTraitor as the likely perpetrator. Investigators say the group is converting the stolen cryptocurrency into Ether to launder it. North Korean officials deny the claim; Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, called the accusation a “sinister attempt” by the United States to damage the country’s reputation.
