Binance Covers 90% of $6.3 Billion Stolen in Hack

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has replaced 90% of the $6.3 billion in digital assets stolen during a hack on Thursday. The company said the remaining 10% may take longer to source in the amounts required.

The exchange has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover the losses. "Binance will absorb the financial impact of these stolen funds, not our users," the company said in a statement Saturday. The assets were replenished using various funds and its own corporate treasury. All holdings of bitcoin, ethereum and Tether are covered, along with seven other widely traded crypto assets.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Saturday that North Korea was responsible for the hack. Two analytics firms previously said they had intelligence pointing to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-backed hacking unit also known as TraderTraitor, which the FBI named specifically. North Korea has denied involvement in such attacks.

Richard Teng, Binance's co-chief executive officer, said the operation involved more than one person and that the intruders used sophisticated methods to conceal their tracks, including a "self-destruct mechanism." The company's initial inquiry found that an engineer's laptop was compromised, allowing unauthorized withdrawals, and a later update said it had identified "additional points of breach."

On Friday, Binance said it had frozen around $3 billion of the stolen assets after working with law enforcement, intelligence firms and partners. The U.S. Secret Service said Friday it is working with private sector partners to identify, freeze, trace and recover the funds. The investigation is continuing.

Binance said it remained on track to reopen withdrawal services for users on Sunday, Nov. 1, and would issue another update once details are confirmed. The hack is believed to be the largest on record, surpassing a $1.5 billion heist at the Bybit exchange in 2025. Binance was founded in China in 2017 and is estimated to have hundreds of millions of users worldwide.