The resumption of withdrawals at Binance has triggered a wave of customer outflows after the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange suffered a record theft of digital assets. According to the company, customers withdrew $3.64 billion, equivalent to 2.1% of the assets under management.
The outflows stabilized after an initial sharp increase. Binance began gradually reopening the platform on Sunday. The exchange also rejected figures from analytics platform DefiLlama, which estimated withdrawals at $5.81 billion. A Binance spokesperson said that estimate was inaccurate because it included internal transfers to the company’s own new wallets.
Binance said it had covered around 95% of the stolen funds from its corporate reserves, revising an earlier estimate of 90%. The hackers stole assets worth $6.3 billion during Thursday’s cyberattack.
To help restore customer confidence, Binance said it would publish an updated proof-of-reserves report. The cryptographic system is intended to allow users to verify mathematically whether their account balances are fully backed by assets held in the company’s wallets.
Bitcoin recovered slightly, rising above $78,000. The cryptocurrency had fallen 5% after the hack became known, while Ethereum dropped by almost 6%. Binance’s own BNB token lost 10%.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed the attack to a state-backed hacking group from North Korea. The attack may have been carried out through the laptop of an IT employee.
Sources: Tagesschau.