Binance has recorded more than $4.7 billion in outflows since it resumed customer withdrawals on Sunday, following a stunning North Korean hack that experts called the largest bank heist in history.
asserted
experts → record → history
It represents just 3% of the massive cryptocurrency exchange’s total assets and withdrawal levels are already stabilizing to normal levels, a spokesperson for Binance told The Post on Monday.
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spokesperson → represent → Monday
After the hack was first detected Thursday evening, Binance worked with other exchanges and stablecoin providers to quickly freeze about $2.8 billion – falling short of the total stolen sum by roughly $3 billion.
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Binance → detect → billion
It also paused withdrawals and vowed to cover all losses in full.
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It → pause → losses
The crypto exchange said it has since covered 95% of the losses by using company funds to buy replacement tokens, restoring balances in the top 10 coins – including bitcoin, ether, solana and USDT, the US dollar-linked stablecoin.
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it → say → bitcoin
The remaining 5% of stolen funds were linked to tokens that “are less liquid in the market and take longer time to source at the required scale,” a Binance spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → steal → scale
“We continue purchasing the remaining affected assets through market and OTC channels.”
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We → purchase → channels
Binance co-founder Yi He also said in a post on X Sunday that not all of the outflows are customer withdrawals, and that some are transfers from cold wallets, also known as hardware wallets, to hot wallets.
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some → say → wallets
“Some are large Binance cold wallet transfers to hot wallets, please keep following along!” she wrote with a heart emoji, as translated from Chinese by the social-media platform.
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she → keep → platform
Crypto-related assets dipped Friday following news of the attack, but the industry has remained surprisingly resilient.
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industry → relate → attack
Bitcoin traded at $77,622.89 on Monday, little changed after dropping below $80,000 last week for the first time in a month.
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Bitcoin → trade → month
Binance said Monday that its balance sheet still boasts $157 billion in current total assets even after the heist, customer withdrawals and subsequent market fluctuations.
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sheet → say → heist
Binance set aside over $6 billion of company funds to cover customer losses, including half of its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU, and its own corporate treasury.
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Binance → set → Users
On Saturday, the exchange said it was committed to replenishing SAFU to return it to roughly $1 billion.
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it → say → billion
“Our commitment remains unchanged: Binance will bear the financial impact of the stolen funds.
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Binance → remain → funds
These losses will not be passed on to users,” a Binance spokesperson said in a statement.
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spokesperson → pass → statement
“Resuming withdrawals is a major milestone, but our work continues.
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work → resume → withdrawals
We will continue strengthening our safeguards, completing the recovery process, and providing updates as progress continues.”
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progress → continue → updates
The Binance attack comes amid a surge in crypto hacks this year, fueled by the rise of AI models that are able to detect unknown flaws in exchanges known as “zero-day vulnerabilities.”
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that → come → vulnerabilities
AI tools have been able to target more secure cold wallets, enabling hackers to carry out much larger heists.
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tools → target → heists
Roughly $1.2 billion was stolen in 255 hacks from July to September, up from $822 million in 222 incidents from April to June, according to data from blockchain security firm CertiK.
A massive $1.5 billion heist targeting crypto exchange Bybit last year was also pinned on TraderTraitor, the North Korean cybercrime group tracked by the FBI.
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heist → steal → FBI
The North Korean hackers were also suspected of carrying out a $350 million heist targeting Bitget, another crypto exchange, in September.
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hackers → suspect → September
Members of the hacking unit were found to be converting stolen Binance assets into ethereum, another cryptocurrency, the FBI said in a statement, adding that it expects “further laundering” of the tokens.
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it → find → tokens
It’s a telltale marker of TraderTraitor, which is known for pulling off unparalleled lootings by using algorithms to quickly spread the stolen riches across global crypto networks – making them virtually impossible to recover.
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them → ’ → networks
US officials have said cybercrime attacks fund roughly half of North Korea’s missile program.
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attacks → say → program
Binance said the security incident may have involved a compromised employee laptop.
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incident → say → laptop
Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, later said the firm’s security team also “uncovered additional points of breach,” suggesting it was a complex attack involving more than one hacker.
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it → say → hacker
The Aporia
