Binance to resume crypto withdrawals in phases after record $6 billion hack - Yahoo Finance UK

The first phase of withdrawals is scheduled to run from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Singapore time on November 1, with additional cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks restored after security and stability checks.

Binance said it would prioritize assets based on customer withdrawal demand over the previous week, allowing services to resume gradually rather than reopening all transactions simultaneously.

The announcement follows a breach disclosed Thursday that prompted Binance to halt withdrawals early Friday in Asia.

Attack attribution and recovery

The FBI attributed the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor hacking group, which was previously linked to the $1.5 billion theft from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in 2025.

Binance said it had replaced approximately 90% of the stolen cryptocurrencies and reiterated that customers would not bear the financial losses.

Security and market impact

The stolen assets included Bitcoin, Ether and dollar-backed stablecoins USDT and USDC.

Co-CEO Yi He indicated that Binance's annual revenue would be sufficient to absorb the financial impact.

Bitcoin traded near $77,700 on Sunday, approximately 5% below its Thursday high before the attack, as major cryptocurrencies showed relatively limited price movements.

Next steps

Investigators are examining a potentially compromised software engineer's laptop and other possible entry points, although Binance said it had found no evidence that private wallet keys were exposed.

The incident has intensified scrutiny of cryptocurrency security amid concerns that hackers are increasingly using artificial intelligence for reconnaissance and social engineering.