Binance resumed phased withdrawals Sunday following a $6.3 billion cryptocurrency theft. The exchange had frozen all deposits and withdrawals after hackers stole the assets from Binance wallets.
Binance said it has covered 95% of the stolen assets and continues working to purchase the remaining affected assets, which are less liquid and harder to source at scale. The company stated it will bear the financial impact and not pass losses to users.
The withdrawal freeze was implemented as a precaution while teams contained the incident, assessed its impact, restored affected services, and completed security checks. Binance noted the importance of reliable withdrawal access for users but said the freeze was necessary.
Withdrawals are resuming in phases depending on network and asset type. As of Sunday morning, Bitcoin withdrawals and deposits remained partially suspended, while Ethereum deposits were normal and Ethereum withdrawals were partially suspended. Users should expect temporary delays or longer processing times due to traffic volume.
Binance attributed the breach to North Korean hackers. The FBI identified the group responsible as TraderTraitor, saying the hackers were converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum with further laundering likely.
The company plans to publish a more detailed incident report when its investigation concludes.