Binance began restoring cryptocurrency withdrawals on Sunday, November 1, after about $6.3 billion was stolen, while the FBI blamed North Korea and the exchange said it had replaced roughly 95% of the affected assets.
The FBI attributed the October 29 attack to TraderTraitor, its name for cyber activity from North Korea. Investigators had seen the stolen funds being changed mainly into ether, the FBI said. The bureau warned that the attackers could move the assets through online finance platforms that operate without a central company and services that quickly exchange one cryptocurrency for another.
It urged crypto businesses and other providers to block transactions linked to crypto addresses it had identified. Binance reopened withdrawals in stages. It first restored Bitcoin withdrawals, then some withdrawal services for Ether, BNB and stablecoins after security checks.
The company said it used its own resources to cover the affected assets. It said it would bear the financial impact rather than pass the losses to users. Its 95% figure refers to replacing the assets backing customers’ holdings, not recovering 95% of the cryptocurrency from the attackers.
Binance said it would take longer to obtain the remaining tokens. The exchange’s investigation was continuing. It had not yet published a full account of how the attackers gained access.