Binance users pull just 2.1% of assets as withdrawals reopen

Binance users withdrew a net of around $3.64 billion after the exchange reopened withdrawals on Nov. 1.

The outflow was 2.1% of its ~$171 billion in assets, the exchange said.

Deposits of $1.01 billion trimmed a $4.649 billion exit

Binance commenced a phased restoration of withdrawals from 06:00 UTC on November 1. All 15 networks and assets in the first phase were live by 12:36 UTC, the exchange said in a post on X.

Binance processed $4.649 billion in withdrawals from 06:00 to 15:30 UTC. Deposits in the same hours were $1.01 billion.

The 2.1% share is based on Proof of Reserves data as of 28th of October. Withdrawal volumes shot up at the open and then eased and stabilized, Binance said, with deposit volumes continuing to be significant.

Founder Changpeng Zhao said most of the net outflow occurred in the first couple of hours after withdrawals resumed. “98% choose to stay!” Zhao posted on X.

Binance took a new Proof of Reserves snapshot at 00:00 UTC on October 31 and initiated the zero-knowledge proof computation. The exchange expected to see the updated report on its reserves website the following day.

Binance says market conditions are stable.

“It has not yet triggered widespread panic or a massive, concentrated withdrawal,” said Tim Sun, a senior researcher at HashKey Group. The hack is likely to slow institutional buying of crypto for a while, analysts said.

Circle’s USDC freeze climbs past $1.1 billion

A freeze following the theft of about $6.3 billion on October 29 has ended with the reopening. It was reported by Cryptopolitan as the biggest hack in the history of crypto.

Binance’s preliminary investigation hints at a compromised laptop of a DevOps engineer. The attacker used it to access an internal service container and force unauthorized withdrawals.

The loss came from Binance 14, one of the exchange’s most active Ethereum hot wallets, according to security firm Blockaid. At 20:20 UTC on October 29, a transaction with 50 signed authorizations handed the wallet to a sweeper contract.

Minutes later, Binance 14 lost 167,464 ETH, 1.615 billion USDT and about 60 other tokens, worth ~$2.5 billion. Another ten Binance hot wallets channeled funds to the same address in 12 minutes.

The FBI blamed the attack on North Korea’s TraderTraitor operation.

Across the industry, about $3 billion has been frozen on-chain. Tether froze $1.567 billion in USDT.

A Circle spokesperson said its USDC freeze now surpasses $1.1 billion, up from the more than $800 million CEO Jeremy Allaire first cited.

Binance said its SAFU emergency fund and reserves would cover user losses. It has covered about 95% of the affected amount, up from 90%, with the remaining 5% in less liquid tokens that take longer to procure.

ETPs and ETFs provide holders with “someone to call if something goes wrong or if assets are lost,” said Andrew Forson, president of DeFi Technologies. Standard Chartered analysts say the hack could accelerate a move to decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap.

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority in Abu Dhabi, which licenses Binance in ADGM, said it was “engaging closely with Binance and monitoring the incident”.