Binance Users Withdraw $3.6bn After Record Crypto Hack

Binance customers withdrew $3.64bn (£2.72bn) of assets from the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange as it reopened on Sunday following a record hack the previous week. The firm suspended all transactions after the incident, which impacted $6.3bn worth of digital assets. The FBI and other major organisations have accused North Korea of being responsible for the cyber-attack, which is said to be the largest hack in history. Binance said it has covered around 95% of the assets stolen in the breach, but that the remaining amount may take longer to source. The company has repeatedly said it would cover all losses linked to the attack. "Between 06:00 and 15:30 [GMT] on November 1, we processed $4.649 billion in withdrawals and $1.01 billion in deposits, resulting in a net outflow of approximately $3.64 billion," the company posted on X. Binance said there was an "initial spike" in withdrawals, which later declined and "are stabilising as expected". Sunday's net withdrawals account for just over 2% of the $171bn of assets under Binance's management, according to the firm. It said last week that it had reserved more than $6.34bn in funds to deal with the fallout of the attack. The exchange said withdrawals of more than two dozen major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, have resumed, and that more services will return in phases once security checks are completed. The attack has been attributed to TraderTraitor, a North Korean cybercrime group also known as the Lazarus Group, which stole a then-record $1.5bn from the crypto exchange Bybit in 2025. On Saturday, the FBI published a list of cryptocurrency wallet addresses linked to the group and urged partners in the industry to help by blocking transactions involving them. Binance scrambled to urge cryptocurrency issuers to freeze affected assets. The company said last week that early checks suggest the incident may have started with a compromised laptop belonging to an engineer, allowing hackers to find a way to make unauthorised transactions. The hack hit Binance's global centralised exchange, Binance.com, while its US-facing platform said it was not affected. Binance said it had replaced customers' assets using a combination of sources, including its corporate treasury as well as its futures insurance and emergency reserve funds. "Our commitment remains the same: Binance will fully cover the financial impact of the funds stolen in this incident," the firm said. Binance was founded in China and has hundreds of millions of registered users globally. Cryptocurrencies are digital assets traded on exchanges such as Binance; unlike cash, they do not exist in physical form and are managed on computers, smartphones and other digital devices.