Binance has begun restoring user withdrawals following a major cyberattack that resulted in the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency, in what is believed to be the largest crypto heist on record.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume had temporarily suspended withdrawals following the attack, as it worked to secure its systems and assess the extent of the breach.
In an update posted on X on Sunday, Binance announced that it had reopened the first withdrawal channel, starting with the Bitcoin network.
“First batch network now opened in phase one of withdrawals is $BTC bitcoin network,” the exchange said.
The company had earlier indicated that the initial phase of withdrawals would resume between 0600 and 0900 GMT on Sunday.
Binance explained that it was adopting a phased restoration process, prioritising tokens according to user demand over the previous week.
“We are taking a phased approach by prioritizing tokens based on the past week data of user demand, so that each network and asset pair can be restored carefully, with stability and security checks completed before access is reopened,” it said.
On Saturday, Binance disclosed that it had allocated more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses arising from the attack, which is believed to be the biggest cryptocurrency theft in history.
The exchange assured customers that their assets would not be affected by the incident, stressing that it would bear the financial losses.
“User funds remain safe. Binance will absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds, not our users,” the company said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Saturday attributed the attack to North Korea, confirming earlier suspicions by private investigators and cybersecurity analysts that the hacking group known as TraderTraitor, linked to Pyongyang, was responsible.
The incident adds to a growing list of high-profile cryptocurrency thefts attributed to North Korean-linked cybercriminals. The country has developed an extensive hacking network, with proceeds from such operations believed to help finance its weapons programmes.
News of the attack triggered a sharp decline in the prices of most major cryptocurrencies on Friday, as investors reacted to concerns over the security of digital asset platforms.
