Binance Customers Hit by $6.3 Billion Hack Are Fully Repaid, Exchange Says

Binance said Thursday it has replaced every token lost in its record $6.3 billion hack. Customers cannot verify it yet, since the proof behind its new reserves snapshot is still pending.

That proof is a zero-knowledge proof, a math-based check that lets users confirm the exchange holds at least one coin for every coin it owes. Until it is published, the backing for roughly $132 billion in customer assets rests on Binance’s word.

What Did Binance Replace, and Who Paid for It?

Hackers drained Binance wallets on October 29. The FBI later blamed TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit. It asked exchanges to block wallets tied to the theft.

By November 2, Binance said it had refilled about 98% of the affected assets. The remaining gap sat mostly in thinly traded tokens, which the exchange then bought on the market.

Binance has said customers will not bear the loss. It paid from its corporate treasury and insurance funds, according to Bloomberg. It also tapped its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), an emergency reserve usually kept near $1 billion.

Co-CEO Yi He said this year’s revenue would fully cover the hole.

Can Binance Get Any of the Stolen Money Back?

About $2.8 billion of the stolen crypto had been frozen as of November 3, Chainalysis said. Frozen funds are not the same as recovered funds.