Binance Resumes Withdrawals Amid FBI Blame on North Korea for $6B+ Hack
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Binance is poised to gradually re-enable withdrawals as early as today, less than 72 hours after the largest cryptocurrency theft on record in terms of dollar value.
MissedBlock Desk · 3 min read
Binance Resumes Withdrawals Amidst North Korean Hacking Allegations
Binance is poised to gradually re-enable withdrawals as early as today, less than 72 hours after the largest cryptocurrency theft on record in terms of dollar value. The move comes as the FBI has formally attributed the attack to North Korean hackers and issued a warning that the stolen assets are already being laundered. U.S. President Donald Trump also commented on the situation, stating his intention to engage with North Korea regarding the matter.
Phased Reopening of Withdrawal Services
The cryptocurrency exchange announced in a statement this morning that the first phase of withdrawal services will commence progressively between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC today, following the completion of the company’s latest security and operational checks. Binance reiterated that deposit services remained operational both before and after the incident.
The initial phase will support 15 networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, and Sui. Supported assets will encompass BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, SOL, DOGE, and a variety of other altcoins. Additional networks and tokens will be integrated once Binance deems them ready.
The company cautioned users that temporary delays might occur as network traffic normalizes. Binance has also intensified its efforts to replace the assets compromised in the breach. As of press time, 95% of the affected amount has been replenished, an increase from the 90% reported in its Saturday update. Balances for BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and ZEC are fully covered. The remaining 5% consists of less liquid tokens that are taking longer to procure through market and over-the-counter purchases.
Binance has once again pledged to absorb the financial losses resulting from the hack, rather than passing them on to its users. The exchange also intends to release a comprehensive post-incident report once its investigation concludes.
FBI Links Hack to North Korea’s “TraderTraitor” Campaign
The FBI has corroborated multiple reports following the hack, confirming that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was responsible for stealing over $6 billion in cryptocurrencies from the world’s largest crypto exchange. The agency identified the operation as part of North Korea’s ongoing cyber offensive known as “TraderTraitor.”
The FBI further stated that the attackers have been converting a significant portion of the stolen digital assets into Ethereum and are expected to continue laundering the funds through decentralized finance platforms and instant-swap services. In response, the FBI, Secret Service, and IRS Criminal Investigations have urged exchanges, DeFi operators, blockchain analytics firms, and other industry participants to block any transactions linked to addresses controlled by the identified attackers. Binance CEO CZ expressed his gratitude to these agencies for their involvement and assistance.
U.S. President Addresses North Korean Involvement
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he would investigate the hack and pledged to speak with North Korea if the country’s responsibility is confirmed.