Another ₩5 trillion flows out of Binance after ₩8 trillion theft; net outflows stabilize for now

[Financial News] Binance, which lost cryptocurrency worth about ₩8 trillion in last month’s hack, saw assets worth about ₩5 trillion flow out on the 1st (local time) as it resumed deposits and withdrawals. Binance repeatedly emphasized that the exchange, not its users, would be responsible for the losses from the hack.
According to CNN and other foreign media outlets, Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, wrote on social media platform X on the 1st (local time), “We are resuming the withdrawal process in phases starting today,” adding, “Binance, not our customers, will absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds.”
Binance subsequently reopened withdrawals for 15 cryptoassets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, Solana, Ripple (XRP) and major stablecoins. Binance said that by 12:30 a.m. Korea time on the 2nd, it had processed $4.649 billion in withdrawals (about ₩6.2 trillion) and $1.01 billion in deposits (about ₩1.35 trillion), resulting in net outflows of about $3.64 billion (about ₩4.85 trillion). The company said the net outflows amounted to 2.1% of its total assets under management ($171 billion) as of the 28th of last month.
Binance said that although large amounts were withdrawn when withdrawals resumed, the volume gradually declined and stabilized at expected levels. It also stressed that at least $1 billion in new funds had been deposited during the same period.
Binance previously said it had covered an amount equivalent to about 95% of the stolen cryptoassets using company funds and its customer protection fund, among other sources. It then announced that the remaining 5% consisted of cryptoassets with low trading liquidity and that covering them would take time. Binance also said it would release a new proof-of-reserves report on the 2nd.
In an announcement on the 29th of last month, Binance said that cryptoassets on the exchange had been withdrawn without authorization in a hacking attack, putting the estimated losses at $6.3 billion (about ₩8.4142 trillion). That figure is the largest loss ever recorded in a hacking-related theft in the crypto industry.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a press release on the 31st of last month, stating, “We are announcing that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was behind the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptoassets from Binance.” The FBI said the perpetrators were TraderTraitor, known as an elite North Korean hacking group, and announced that it had “detected indications that they were converting the stolen assets into (another cryptocurrency) Ethereum.”
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter