Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is preparing to resume cryptocurrency withdrawals in phases after covering 95 per cent of the $6.3 billion in tokens stolen in what has been described as the world’s largest digital heist.
The first phase of withdrawals is scheduled to begin between 6am and 9am GMT on Sunday, covering Bitcoin, ether, BNB, Solana, XRP, dogecoin and other digital assets, Binance said in a post on X late on Saturday.
The remaining 5 per cent of the stolen tokens consists of less liquid assets that may take longer to source in the required amounts, the exchange said.
“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 Binance post on X said.
“Deposit services remain open and are not affected by the incident,” it added.
The resumption follows security assessments and precautionary measures taken by the cryptocurrency exchange to safeguard its platform and verify the readiness of affected services.
Binance said it would absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds rather than pass the losses on to customers. “As we have said throughout this incident: user funds remain safe,” Binance said.
The FBI on Saturday attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking unit.
Members of the group were observed by law enforcement converting the stolen assets into ether, the FBI said in a statement, adding that it expected further laundering through related technology.
Binance said on X that withdrawals were temporarily suspended as a precaution, “while our teams worked to contain the incident loss, assess its impact, restore affected services, and complete security checks”.
“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.”
Despite its reputation for robust security, the cryptocurrency industry has suffered several high-profile hacks and collapses over the years.
In 2014, the Mt Gox exchange, then the world's largest Bitcoin trading platform, collapsed after hackers stole hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins, alongside a series of technical and operational failures.
Eight years later, FTX, then the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, imploded amid revelations of fraud and the misuse of customer funds. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was later sentenced to prison.
More recently, the FBI attributed a $1.5 billion theft from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit to North Korea, highlighting the persistent security threats facing the industry.
