Binance users withdraw $3.6bn after record crypto hack

Binance customers withdrew more than $3.6bn (£2.7bn) of assets from the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange as it reopened on Sunday following a record hack last week .

The firm suspended all transactions in the wake of the incident, which impacted $6.3bn worth of digital assets.

Major organisations, including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have accused North Korea of being responsible for the cyber attack , which is said to be the largest hack in history.

The company said it has covered around 95% of the assets stolen in the breach, but that the remaining amount may take longer to source. Binance has repeatedly said it would cover all of the losses linked to the attack.

There was an "initial spike" in withdrawals, which later declined and "are stabilising as expected", Binance posted on X.

It added that withdrawals for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have resumed and that more services will resume in phases once security checks are completed.

The hack hit Binance's global centralised exchange, Binance.com, while its US-facing platform has said it has not been affected by the issue.

Binance said last week that early checks suggest the incident may have started with a compromised laptop that belonged to an engineer, allowing hackers to find a way to make unauthorised transactions.

The crypto withdrawn represents just a fraction of the total value of assets held by Binance.

The company said in 2024 that it had more than $160bn in assets in its custody.

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets traded on exchanges such as Binance. Unlike cash, they do not exist in physical form and are managed on computers, smartphones and other digital devices.

Binance was founded in China and has hundreds of millions of registered users globally.