Binance Says It Replaced $6.3 Billion After Record Crypto Heist - Gadget Review

The exchange said it committed more than $6.34 billion in company resources to cover customer balances. Binance drew on SAFU (its Secure Asset Fund for Users, an emergency reserve built for this purpose) and corporate treasury holdings, according to reporting on the company's disclosure. Replacement tokens were acquired through ordinary market purchases and over-the-counter transactions spread across approximately two weeks.

The critical distinction bears repeating. Binance bought new tokens to restore customer balances. The original stolen assets have not been recovered and remain in circulation.

Record-Breaking Attack

Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs documented the scale and speed of an attack now recorded as the largest crypto theft in history. According to TRM Labs, attackers moved approximately $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets across 10 separate blockchains, with most of the transfer completed in about 20 minutes.

Breach Investigation

Binance's preliminary investigation identified a compromised employee device as a suspected entry point, though the full picture remains unclear. The company later indicated it had identified additional potential entry points, and the investigation remains active.

Details on how privileges escalated from that device to exchange wallets across 10 blockchains have not been publicly confirmed.

Recovery Efforts

Binance said nearly $3 billion in stolen assets were frozen or intercepted shortly after the attack; a later TRM Labs figure placed that amount at approximately $2.7 billion. The exchange said it is working with the FBI on recovery efforts.

Attackers routed remaining funds through thousands of wallets and transactions to obscure their origin. Blockchain researchers also reported that the attackers reportedly created memecoins as part of an effort to launder approximately $430,000 in stolen cryptocurrency.

Verification Process

Until Binance's proof-of-reserves process is complete and independently confirmed, the fully-backed claim rests substantially on the exchange's own disclosure. Binance published a proof-of-reserves snapshot and said holdings are intended to back customer assets on a one-to-one basis.

That complete proof has not yet been published or confirmed on-chain. Less-liquid tokens in any such snapshot may also present additional verification challenges, given the difficulty of sourcing them in sufficient quantity on short notice.