Former Binance CEO @cz_binance said the exchange funded the replacement of assets stolen in its $6.3 billion hack from its own balance sheet, without borrowing, selling assets or raising new
Former Binance CEO @cz_binance said the exchange funded the replacement of assets stolen in its $6.3 billion hack from its own balance sheet, without borrowing, selling assets or raising new money. He added that the funds are set aside and that the last 5% is still being converted into smaller coins.
@binance says it has replaced about 95% of the stolen assets so far, while around $3 billion of the total remains frozen onchain. The exchange also published a proof of reserves that lets users check ten tokens, including $BTC, $ETH and $BNB, are backed at least 1:1, with a wider snapshot planned for Wednesday.
Attackers took about $6.3 billion from Binance hot wallets on October 29, according to StealthEX's summary of the incident. CoinDesk reported that Binance had already set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds, including $5 billion held in the affected cryptocurrencies. Those resources were separate from roughly $3 billion in stolen assets that partners had frozen.
According to CoinDesk, the replacement assets are being funded through Binance's corporate treasury and part of its futures insurance fund, with a partial deployment of the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) also expected. Business Standard, citing Binance, reported that the remaining amount consists of assets that are less liquid and may take longer to source in the required amounts.
The frozen funds are not the same as recovered funds. The Crypto Times noted that frozen assets should not be treated as returned to customers, and that Binance's figures are based on its own disclosures.
The FBI has blamed North Korea for the theft. NBC News reported that the agency said members of the unit were observed converting stolen assets into ether, and that it expects further laundering of the assets.
Binance has completed a zero-knowledge proof of reserves for ten tokens, allowing users to confirm that balances are backed at least 1:1, according to Crypto Briefing. The Crypto Times listed the covered assets as BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC. The snapshot was taken at 00:00 UTC on October 31.
Binance plans another snapshot covering more tokens on November 4, and expects the corresponding proof to take about 40 to 50 hours to generate, Crypto Briefing reported. The same report said the verification applies to the ten covered assets at the time of the snapshot and is not a comprehensive financial audit of the exchange.
Binance has also begun reopening withdrawals in stages. NBC News reported that the exchange had halted customer withdrawals after the hack.
CoinDesk: Binance says it has replaced 90% of stolen crypto after $6.3 billion breachNBC News: FBI says North Korea was behind the $6.3 billion Binance crypto hackCrypto Briefing: Binance completes reserve verification for 10 major tokens
