Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has replaced 90% of the assets stolen in a record $6.3 billion hack by using its own funds to purchase replacement tokens, the company said on Saturday.
The remaining 10% comprises less liquid tokens, which could take longer to acquire, Binance said in a statement posted on X.
“We’ve now replenished 90% of the stolen assets, and we’re committed to covering the remaining 10%. Our users will not bear the financial impact of this incident,” co-CEO Richard Teng said in a post on X on Saturday.
Binance assures users of fund safety after cyberattack
Cryptocurrency prices declined on Friday as Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, sought to reassure customers that their funds remained safe following the theft of more than $6 billion worth of digital assets.
Analysts have blamed North Korea for the cyberattack.
Teng said on Friday that the breach was a “complex attack” involving a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to erase evidence of its activities, making the incident more difficult to trace and investigate.
Binance sets aside $6.34 billion to cover losses
Following the hack, Binance temporarily suspended customer withdrawals. However, the exchange said on Saturday that it remained on track to resume withdrawals on Sunday.
The company added that it had internally allocated around $6.34 billion from its own funds to cover the losses.
The money spent re-buying tokens came from using part of its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a bitcoin reserve it holds to protect customers in the event of security breaches, as well as some of its Futures insurance fund, and the company’s own corporate treasury, it said on X.
Binance also said it had taken a new snapshot of assets held on its platform as of 0000 GMT on October 31, as part of its proof-of-reserves process.
Users holding the 10 listed tokens — BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and ZEC — would be able to verify that their assets were backed at a minimum 1:1 ratio once the full proof was available, it said.
