Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it has secured assets covering approximately 95% of the $6.3 billion stolen in what has been described as the largest cryptocurrency hack in history, according to a report published by The Washington Post on Monday.
The cyberattack, which took place on Thursday and has been attributed to North Korean hackers, triggered massive withdrawals from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and renewed concerns about the security of digital assets.
Binance said customers would be fully compensated through a combination of company assets, an insurance fund and a $1 billion strategic bitcoin reserve.
Former Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao sought to reassure customers after the exchange temporarily suspended withdrawals following the breach.
“Trust isn’t earned by what you say in good times. It’s earned by what you do in hard times,” Zhao wrote on X on Sunday.
Zhao resigned as Binance CEO in 2023 after pleading guilty to violating US anti-money laundering requirements. He was subsequently pardoned by President Donald Trump and remains the exchange’s largest shareholder.
Despite assurances that customer funds would be protected, users withdrew approximately $3.6 billion during the first nine hours after withdrawals resumed, representing around 2% of the $171 billion in assets reportedly managed by the platform.
The stolen digital assets included several cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, which are tokens generally designed to maintain a fixed value against conventional currencies such as the US dollar.
According to the report, stablecoin issuers froze approximately $3 billion of the affected assets, restricting the hackers’ ability to transfer or launder the funds.
Binance also purchased replacement cryptocurrencies on the open market and published cryptographically verifiable records and blockchain transactions to demonstrate its efforts to cover the losses.
The FBI and independent cybersecurity analysts reportedly attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean state-linked hacking group associated with previous major cryptocurrency thefts.
North Korean hackers have repeatedly targeted digital asset platforms, exploiting vulnerabilities in an industry that operates with fewer regulatory safeguards than traditional banking.
In 2024, Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX lost approximately $234 million in a cyberattack, forcing the company into a restructuring process.
Although Binance maintains that it possesses sufficient resources to compensate affected customers, the incident has renewed scrutiny of cryptocurrency security and the absence of government-backed deposit protections comparable to those available in conventional banking.
Blockchain investigators and cybersecurity firms continue to analyse the movement of stolen assets through publicly accessible transaction records.