Binance said on November 12 that it has replaced all $6.34 billion in cryptocurrency stolen in an October 29 hack. The exchange described the theft as the largest reported hack in crypto history.
The replacement funds came from three sources: Binance's Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), its futures insurance fund, and its corporate treasury. Over the previous two weeks, the exchange purchased replacement tokens on the open market and through over-the-counter trades.
According to Binance, all user balances are now backed on a one-to-one basis. The company said it plans to refill SAFU to approximately $1 billion to protect users in future emergencies.
Details of the Hack
Blockchain security firm TRM Labs reported that hackers drained Binance wallets across 10 blockchains, with most funds removed in roughly 20 minutes. TRM Labs tied the attack to TraderTraitor, identified as a North Korean hacking group. The FBI also attributed the Binance attack to North Korea.
Binance's initial investigation identified a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer as a point of entry, though the company later found additional breach points.
Nearly $3 billion in stolen assets was frozen or intercepted shortly after the hack. Binance is reportedly working with US authorities to recover those funds. The remaining stolen cryptocurrency has been moved through thousands of wallets and transactions, with hackers also creating memecoins to launder approximately $430,000 in stolen assets.
Reserve Snapshot Findings
Binance released a new proof-of-reserves snapshot covering 198 tokens, showing reserve ratios above 100% for all major assets including Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, and BNB.
According to the snapshot, Bitcoin holdings rose 0.35% to approximately 687,900 BTC. Ether holdings increased 1.04% to 3.48 million ETH, while BNB holdings rose 1.03% to 42.95 million tokens. Tether's USDT showed the largest decline, falling 3.68% to 24.3 billion tokens.
The snapshot includes holdings of smaller tokens such as Solana, USDC, Aave, Polkadot, Arbitrum, Hedera, and Bitcoin Cash. Binance said users will be able to verify their own balances once the exchange generates the full proof, a process expected to take 40 to 50 hours. The exchange said it will continue restoring withdrawals in phases during this period.
