Binance Resumes Crypto Withdrawals After Covering 95% of Massive $6.3 Billion Heist

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is set to gradually re-enable cryptocurrency withdrawals after successfully covering 95% of the $6.3 billion in tokens that were stolen in what is being called the most significant digital heist to date. The initial phase of withdrawals is slated to commence between 6 am and 9 am GMT on Sunday, and will include Bitcoin, ether, BNB, Solana, XRP, dogecoin, and other digital assets, according to a post on X by Binance late Saturday. The exchange noted that the remaining 5% of the stolen tokens comprises less liquid assets, which may require more time to acquire in the necessary quantities. A statement from Binance on X indicated, "Since the incident, our teams have taken precautionary measures to safeguard the platform, conducted security assessments, and worked to verify the readiness of affected services. We aim to restore withdrawals progressively as we complete security and readiness checks." The post also confirmed, "Deposit services remain open and are not affected by the incident." The resumption of services follows comprehensive security assessments and precautionary measures implemented by Binance to protect its platform and ensure the readiness of affected services. Binance has committed to absorbing the financial impact of the stolen funds, rather than passing the losses onto its customers. "As we have said throughout this incident: user funds remain safe," Binance stated. The FBI identified the attack on Saturday as the work of TraderTraitor, a hacking group affiliated with the North Korean state. According to an FBI statement, law enforcement observed members of the group converting the stolen assets into ether and anticipates further laundering activities through related technologies. Binance had previously announced on X that withdrawals were temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure, "while our teams worked to contain the incident loss, assess its impact, restore affected services, and complete security checks." The exchange emphasized, "We did not take this decision lightly. We understand how important reliable access to withdrawals is for our users. However, our priority was to protect users, safeguard the platform, and complete the necessary security checks before restoring services."