Binance said it had restored 95% of the assets affected by the US$ 6.3 billion attack suffered on October 29, while North Korea on Tuesday (3) rejected the United States' accusations that hackers linked to the regime were responsible for the theft. The exchange also said that the outflow of client funds began to normalize after the gradual resumption of withdrawals.
North Korea's reaction came through Kim Yo-jong, sister of leader Kim Jong-un and a member of the leadership of the Workers' Party. In a statement released by state agency KCNA, she described the American accusation as a "serious political provocation" and said that Washington is trying to hold Pyongyang responsible for cybercrimes committed in different parts of the world.
The FBI attributed the attack to the group TraderTraitor, which U.S. authorities link to North Korea. In an October 31 statement, the agency said it had identified the conversion of stolen assets mainly into Ether (ETH) and warned of possible additional money-laundering operations through decentralized finance services.
The incident is considered the largest cryptocurrency theft ever recorded, surpassing the approximately US$ 1.5 billion attack on Bybit in 2025, also attributed by American investigators to North Korean hackers.
Binance replenishes assets with its own funds, but recovery is still incomplete
The announced 95% does not represent stolen money that was recovered from the attackers. Binance used its own funds to acquire assets equivalent to those lost, committing to absorb the entire loss without passing it on to users.
According to the company, the remaining 5% correspond to less liquid tokens, whose acquisition in large quantities requires more time. The exchange said that the balances of ten cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, BNB, Solana and XRP, already have full coverage.
On November 2, Binance also announced the completion of a cryptographic proof of reserves based on zero knowledge (zero-knowledge proof), which allows users to verify the minimum 1:1 coverage of the balances of these ten cryptocurrencies. The verification is not equivalent to recovering the diverted funds.
The breach triggered an initial run on withdrawals. According to Reuters, net client withdrawals totaled US$ 4.72 billion by Monday (2). During an event in Hong Kong on Tuesday, co-CEO Richard Teng said the flow had practically returned to normal and that the company remained in solid financial condition.
Binance resumed withdrawals in stages starting November 1 and expanded service to new networks and cryptocurrencies on Tuesday. The company plans to carry out a new update of its reserves on November 4, while it continues working with authorities and industry partners to trace the stolen funds.
