Binance users withdraw $3.6bn as the cryptocurrency exchange resumes operations following a $6.3bn hack attributed to North Korea-linked hackers.
Customers of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, withdrew $3.6bn in net assets after the platform resumed operations following a record-breaking cyber-attack.
The exchange reopened withdrawals on Sunday after suspending transactions following a breach that affected $6.3bn worth of digital assets.
Binance said it processed $4.649bn in withdrawals and $1.01bn in deposits between 06:00 and 15:30 GMT on November 1, resulting in net outflows of approximately $3.64bn.
The company said withdrawals initially surged but later declined, with activity stabilising as expected.
The net withdrawals represented just over two per cent of the $171bn in assets Binance managed before the incident.
The exchange said it had replaced approximately 95 per cent of the stolen assets, while the remaining funds could take longer to source.
Binance has repeatedly pledged to cover all losses arising from the breach.
The company said it was using its corporate treasury, futures insurance fund and emergency reserves to replace customers’ assets.
It also said withdrawals of more than two dozen major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, had resumed.
Other services are expected to return in phases after security checks are completed.
However, investigators say funds stolen in the attack are still being laundered.
Alex Zebrick, a senior investigator at blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, told the BBC’s Today Programme that the attackers were actively moving the stolen assets.
“We continue to see funds being laundered quite actively,” he said.
“The attackers are layering these funds across many thousands of addresses, across thousands of deposits,” he added.