Binance is starting to emerge from the crisis. Sunday, November 1, the platform reactivated withdrawals on the Bitcoin network, the first network to return to normal operation since the suspension on October 29. At the same time, it announced that it had reconstituted 95% of the stolen assets. An encouraging figure, even if customers will still have to wait to recover certain funds.
In brief
- Binance relaunched Bitcoin withdrawals on November 1, in a first phase which concerns 15 networks and several assets.
- The platform claims to have replenished approximately 95% of the affected funds and mobilized more than $6.34 billion to cover losses.
- Binance plans to release full crypto verification of its new proof of reserves on November 3. However, no date has yet been announced for the second phase of withdrawals.
Bitcoin opens the ball, 14 other networks follow
After several days of suspension following the hack, Binance has begun to reinstate crypto withdrawals. The Bitcoin network was the first to return to normal operation this Sunday, November 1, with outputs resuming between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. UTC. Changpeng Zhao confirmed the news on X in a few words: “BTC withdrawal is live. »
The first phase of reopening covers 15 networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Tron, Solana, XRP Ledger, Zcash, Dogecoin, Polygon, Avalanche C-Chain, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, TON and Sui.
Please note, however, that the list of networks does not mean that all assets are immediately available. On Ethereum, for example, Binance allows withdrawals of ETH, USDT, and USDC. On Arbitrum, users can also exit their ETH, USDT, USDC and ARB.
Why some customers still have to wait
To organize this recovery, Binance has classified the reopenings according to the withdrawal request recorded the previous week. The platform then verifies each combination between an asset and its network.
Result: seeing your network in the first list does not guarantee being able to immediately withdraw your cryptos.
As for the second phase, it remains without a precise timetable. Yi He explains that the wallets still affected are subject to additional checks. Binance will give priority to the most capitalized assets, to those which represent the largest amounts for its customers and to the tokens used by the greatest number.
Note that deposits have never been interrupted. Binance had only suspended fund outflows.
95% of assets reconstituted, but the last effort remains to be made
Progress is rapid on paper. Binance first announced 80% funds replenished, then 90% on October 31. On November 1st, Richard Teng raised this estimate to 95%while reaffirming that the platform would bear the losses.
On an estimated $6.3 billion bill, that’s about $6 billion reconstituted. Binance had already announced the mobilization of more than $6.34 billion in own resources.
The remaining 5% concerns in particular less liquid cryptos, outside of the ten assets that the platform claims to fully cover: BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC. Binance explains that it needs more time to repurchase the missing quantities.
To finance this operation, the company draws on three reserves: the SAFU fund, surpluses from the futures insurance fund and its own cash flow. It also plans to bring SAFU down to around $1 billion.
A first snapshot of reserves dates from October 31 at 00:00 UTC. However, we will have to wait until November 3 to obtain full cryptographic verification, based on zero-knowledge proof technology.
North Korean trail now confirmed
For his part, the FBI officially attributed the hack to North Korea on October 31. The agency also identified the operation as TraderTraitor, as reported in our previous article on the North Korean trail.
Along with the Secret Service and IRS-CI, the FBI says hackers primarily convert funds into ether. It also asks node operators and DeFi services to block identified addresses.
The next few days will therefore be decisive for Binance. The verification of the reserves, expected on Tuesday, will make it possible to compare the announcements with cryptographic proof. Then, the second phase of withdrawals should reassure customers who are still waiting for their assets.
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