After the recent cyberattack on Binance, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, the company froze all deposits and withdrawals. In its latest update, Binance confirmed that it has now covered 95% of the stolen assets and is working to buy the “remaining affected assets,” which are “less liquid in the market and take longer to source at the required scale.”
“Our commitment remains unchanged: Binance will bear the financial impact of the stolen funds,” the company explained. “These losses will not be passed on to users.”
When it comes to the withdrawal freeze, Binance explained that it did not make the decision lightly. The company understands how important reliable access to withdrawals is for its users. However, the company said this was a necessary precaution while its teams worked to contain the loss, assess its impact, restore affected services, and complete security checks.
The company will resume withdrawals in a phased manner, depending on network and asset type. The company also cautioned that its users should expect “temporary delays or longer processing times due to traffic volume.” “Resuming withdrawals is a major milestone, but our work continues,” Binance said.
Binance also shared that between 6 am and 3:30 pm Coordinated Universal Time, it processed $4.6 billion in withdrawals and $1.0 billion in deposits, for a net outflow of $3.6 billion — 2.1% of its total assets under management.
The company also said it will publish a more in-depth incident report when its investigation is complete.
The cryptocurrency exchange previously put the blame on North Korean hackers for the data breach. Later on Saturday, the FBI confirmed that a North Korean group named TraderTraitor was responsible for the attack, and it was converting the assets primarily into Ethereum, with further laundering likely.
