Binance users withdraw $3.6bn after North Korean crypto heist

Binance customers withdrew a net $3.6 billion from the exchange following a large‑scale cyber‑theft attributed to a North Korean hacking group.

The outflow represents 2.1 % of Binance’s total $171 billion in assets under management. The theft, carried out by the group known as TraderTraitors, is estimated to have taken $6.3 billion in crypto assets from Binance in about 20 minutes.

On 30 October, Binance froze roughly $3 billion of its assets, and other issuers such as Tether and Circle also froze billions. Withdrawals were halted and then resumed on 1 November, with the exchange processing $4.6 billion in withdrawals and about $1 billion in deposits within nine hours.

Binance said its reserved funds already cover 90 % of the losses and that customers will be reimbursed from its Secure Asset Fund, futures insurance fund and corporate treasury. Legal experts caution that the reimbursement terms may not be legally binding and could involve further disputes.

TraderTraitors has previously been linked to a $1.5 billion theft at ByBit earlier in the year, bringing the group’s total alleged crypto loot to nearly $8 billion.

Source: Silicon Republic. Photo: George Morina / Pexels.