Binance to resume withdrawals after recovering most of $6 billion stolen

what happened

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said it will reopen withdrawals in phases after covering 95% of the $6.3 billion in tokens taken from its platform in what is considered the largest digital heist on record. The first phase is set to begin between 06:00 and 09:00 GMT on Sunday and will include bitcoin, ether, BNB, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin and other tokens. Reuters reported the details based on a post the exchange published on X.

Binance said the remaining 5% consists of less liquid assets that may take longer to obtain in the required amounts. The FBI said on Saturday that the North Korean state-linked unit known as TraderTraitor was behind the attack. Agency officials said members of the unit were seen converting stolen assets into ether and that they expect further laundering of the funds. Pyongyang has long denied using state-linked cyber units for espionage and theft. Its mission in Geneva and its embassy in China did not respond to requests for comment.

why it matters

Resuming withdrawals reduces uncertainty for Binance users, but the scale of the theft and the FBI's link to North Korea highlight security risks at major crypto exchanges. Markets will also watch how quickly the remaining 5% is covered and whether the laundering of the funds continues.

market impact

Crypto assets: news of the recovery and the attack on Binance affects sentiment toward exchange-traded tokens.

tags

instruments