Binance has begun restoring withdrawals for several major cryptocurrencies after more than $6 billion in digital assets were stolen from the exchange in what is thought to be the largest crypto heist on record.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume halted withdrawals following the attack, which caused sharp falls in the prices of most major cryptocurrencies on Friday.
Withdrawals are being reinstated in stages, with the first phase starting on Sunday. Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Base, Dogecoin and Optimism were among the assets made available again after security checks.
Binance said further assets and networks would be restored “in phases as security checks are completed”.
The company has also said it will use its own funds to cover 90% of the losses, buying tokens to replenish a substantial proportion of the assets taken in the attack.
The FBI has accused North Korea of carrying out the hack, confirming earlier suspicions from private investigators and analysts that a Pyongyang-affiliated group known as TraderTraitor was responsible.
TraderTraitor has also been blamed for the theft of $1.5 billion from the Bybit platform in February last year. The FBI said the group had been converting the stolen Binance assets into Ethereum and was expected to launder them further through decentralised finance platforms and instant-swap services.
The agency urged private-sector organisations to block transactions involving, or originating from, cryptocurrency addresses being used by the group to launder the stolen funds.
