Binance has reopened withdrawals after the largest crypto theft on record. Hackers drained about $6.3 billion from the exchange's hot wallets on 29 October, and the FBI has blamed a North Korean group known as TraderTraitor. Binance says it has covered about 95% of the stolen assets from its own funds and that no customer will lose money.
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Binance says it "will bear the financial impact of the stolen funds" and that "these losses will not be passed on to users."
What happened
Large outflows began from Binance's hot wallets, the online wallets an exchange uses to process everyday withdrawals, on the evening of 29 October. On 30 October Binance said the incident had an estimated impact of about $6.3 billion and paused withdrawals while it investigated.
On 31 October the FBI said the attack was the work of TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group, and that the stolen assets were being converted mainly into Ethereum, with further laundering likely. Stablecoin issuers moved quickly: Circle said it froze more than $1.1 billion in USDC linked to the theft.
Binance has not yet explained how the attackers got in. It says a full incident report will follow once its investigation is complete.
How the reopening is going
Binance reopened withdrawals in phases from 6am UTC on Sunday, 1 November, starting with Bitcoin and assets on 15 networks. Other networks are coming back after security checks, so some coins may still show as suspended on Binance's network status page.
Customers moved money out quickly once they could:
| 1 November, 6am to 3:30pm UTC | Amount |
|---|---|
| Withdrawals processed | $4.65 billion |
| Deposits received | $1.01 billion |
| Net outflow | $3.64 billion |
| Share of Binance's total assets | 2.1% |
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said most of the outflow came in the first two hours and that "98% choose to stay." A 2.1% net outflow is large in dollars but small against the $171 billion in customer assets Binance reported before the hack, which is why the exchange kept running.
Is your money safe?
Binance's position is that every customer balance is whole: it has bought back about 95% of the stolen assets and is still buying the remaining, less liquid tokens. Your balance should show in full when you log in. If you want to withdraw, check the network status page first; a coin on a suspended network will not move until that network reopens.
Three steps make sense for anyone with crypto on Binance:
- Check your balance and recent activity. Look for any withdrawal you did not make.
- Turn on withdrawal address whitelisting in security settings, so funds can only go to addresses you have approved.
- Ignore anyone offering to "recover" funds. Every major hack is followed by fake recovery agents on WhatsApp, Telegram and X. Binance will never ask for your password or 2FA code, and there is nothing to recover if your balance is intact.
Why it matters in Nigeria
Binance stopped its naira services in 2024 after a dispute with the Nigerian government, but Nigerians still hold crypto on the platform and trade through it. For them, the episode is a reminder that a balance on an exchange is a promise from the exchange, not coins you hold yourself. Binance could absorb a $6.3 billion loss; a smaller platform hit the same way might not.
Crypto users who keep large amounts for the long term often move them to a wallet they control, keeping only trading money on an exchange. That brings its own risk, because losing your recovery phrase means losing the funds, but it removes exchange hacks from the picture.
What happens next
- Remaining networks: Binance is reopening the rest in stages after security checks.
- The incident report: how the attackers reached the hot wallets is the question every exchange will want answered.
- The money trail: with Ethereum hard to freeze, recovering more of the stolen funds depends on exchanges and stablecoin issuers blocking the laundering route.
Binance survived the biggest crypto theft yet by paying for it. Customers are covered, but the hack shows why large crypto savings belong in a wallet you control.
