Binance users withdraw $3.6bn after record crypto hack

Binance customers withdrew more than $3.6bn in assets after the cryptocurrency exchange reopened on Sunday following a major hack last week. The incident affected $6.3bn worth of digital assets and prompted the firm to suspend all transactions while it worked to restore services. The exchange said withdrawals later began to stabilise after an initial surge.

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The company said it has covered around 95% of the assets stolen in the breach, while the remaining amount may take longer to source. Binance has said repeatedly that it will cover all losses linked to the attack. It also said withdrawals for major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have resumed, with more services to return in phases once security checks are completed.

The hack affected Binance's global centralised exchange, Binance.com, while its US-facing platform said it was not affected. Binance said early checks suggested the incident may have started with a compromised laptop belonging to an engineer, which allowed hackers to carry out unauthorised transactions. The company said the withdrawn crypto represented only a fraction of the total assets it holds in custody.

The scale of the breach matters because Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and has hundreds of millions of registered users globally. The firm said in 2024 that it held more than $160bn in assets in custody, underlining the size of the platform and the potential market impact of any disruption. The incident also adds to wider concerns about the security of digital asset platforms, where losses can move quickly across borders and affect users in many countries.

Authorities have also pointed to possible state-linked involvement. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused North Korea of being responsible for the cyber attack, which has been described as the largest hack in history. Binance was founded in China and has become a major global exchange, making the case significant not only for users but also for regulators and law enforcement tracking cross-border cybercrime.

What remains unclear is how long it will take to source the remaining stolen assets and whether any further service restrictions will be needed. Binance said withdrawals are stabilising, but it has not given a full timetable for the return of all functions. The key issues to watch are whether the exchange can complete its phased recovery without further disruption and whether investigators provide more detail on how the breach was carried out.

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