Binance Says It Has Covered 90% of $6.3bn Hack Losses
Binance says it has replaced 90% of the $6.3bn stolen on Thursday and set aside over $6.34bn of its own funds, as the FBI blames North Korea for the hack.
What you need to know
Binance says it has covered 90% of the $6.3bn in assets stolen in Thursday's hack, keeping more than $6.34bn in company funds to absorb the loss for users. The FBI attributed the hack to North Korea, and Binance says it has frozen around $3bn of the stolen assets.
- Binance says 90% of the $6.3bn stolen on Thursday has been covered, with the remaining 10% possibly taking longer to source.
- The company says it has set aside more than $6.34bn of its own funds and will absorb the loss rather than users.
- The FBI said North Korea was responsible and named the Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor.
- Binance said it froze around $3bn of the stolen assets with law enforcement, intelligence firms and partners.
- Withdrawals remain on track to reopen on Sunday 1 November, the company said.
Losses covered and funds set aside
Binance says it has covered 90% of the $6.3bn in assets stolen in Thursday's hack, according to BBC News. The remaining 10% may take longer to source in the required amounts, the company said.
The exchange said it has set aside more than $6.34bn in company funds and pledged to cover all losses from what is suspected to be crypto's largest hack on record. It said it replenished the stolen assets using various funds and its own corporate treasury, and that it would absorb the financial impact rather than users.
Bitcoin, ethereum and Tether holdings are covered, along with seven other widely traded crypto assets, the company said. Its stated next goal is resuming withdrawals, which it said remained on track to reopen on Sunday 1 November, with a further update once details were confirmed.
Attribution and investigation
The FBI said on Saturday that North Korea was responsible for the hack and specifically named the Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor. Two analytics firms had previously told the BBC they had robust intelligence pointing to the state-backed unit as the likely culprit. North Korea has consistently denied involvement in such attacks.
Binance's initial investigation suggested an engineer's laptop was compromised, allowing unauthorised withdrawals, but a later update said additional points of breach had been uncovered. Co-chief executive Richard Teng said more than one person carried out the hack and that sophisticated methods, including a self-destruct mechanism, were used to hide tracks.
On Friday the company said it had frozen around $3bn of the stolen assets after working with law enforcement, intelligence firms and partners. The US Secret Service said it was working around the clock with private sector partners to identify, freeze, trace and recover the funds. The investigation is ongoing, Binance said.
How much of the stolen assets has Binance recovered or frozen?
Binance says it has frozen around $3bn of the stolen assets after working with law enforcement, intelligence firms and partners, while covering 90% of the $6.3bn loss with its own and other funds.
Sources & context
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