Binance covers 90% of $6.3 billion hack losses, but what about the rest?
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance says it has replenished 90% of the assets stolen in a $6.3 billion cyberattack, but replacing the remaining funds could take longer because some cryptocurrencies are harder to obtain, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to the company's latest recovery update, the proportion of replenished assets has increased from 80% to 90%, with Binance continuing to purchase replacement tokens through public markets and over-the-counter transactions.
The exchange confirmed that 10 major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), BNB, Solana (SOL), USD Coin (USDC), XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and Zcash (ZEC), are now fully backed by reserves.
Binance explained that the outstanding assets consist of less liquid cryptocurrencies, meaning they are not as readily available for purchase in large quantities.
Unlike widely traded cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, these tokens may require additional time to acquire without disrupting market conditions.
The company said it is working with industry partners to secure the remaining assets and intends to continue purchasing replacement tokens until all affected cryptocurrencies are fully backed.
Importantly, replenishing stolen assets does not mean the stolen funds themselves have been recovered from the attackers. Binance is using its own financial resources to replace missing assets while separate efforts to trace and recover the stolen cryptocurrency continue.
Where is the replacement money coming from?
Binance identified three sources of funding: its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a portion of its Futures Insurance Fund, and corporate funds.
SAFU, established in 2018, serves as an emergency reserve designed to protect customers during exceptional incidents, including security breaches.
The company also pledged to replenish SAFU to approximately $1 billion after using part of the fund to cover losses.
Binance announced that it had taken a new Proof of Reserves snapshot on October 31, providing updated information about assets held by the exchange.
The company said preparing the complete cryptographic proof would take approximately 40 to 50 hours because of the computational resources required.
Once published, the results are expected to allow customers holding the 10 fully backed cryptocurrencies to independently verify that their assets are supported by reserves at a ratio of at least 1:1.
The complete verification results are expected by November 3.
Binance also identified restoring withdrawals as a priority, with services scheduled to resume in phases from November 1, subject to security checks.
Earlier, Qazinform reported that investigators had linked the $6.3 billion Binance hack to a North Korean state-backed hacking group, with stolen assets transferred across multiple blockchain networks.
