Binance Sets Aside $6.34 Billion to Cover Losses After Major Cyberattack

Binance Commits $6.34 Billion to Cover Customer Losses

Binance has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses following a major security breach that affected an estimated $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency assets.

The exchange said around $5 billion of the reserve is already held in the same digital tokens affected by the incident. It is working to acquire the remaining assets through market purchases and over-the-counter transactions.

Around $3 Billion in Assets Frozen

Binance said approximately $3 billion in affected cryptocurrency assets had been frozen with help from industry partners. The company is working with law enforcement agencies, blockchain investigators and token issuers to trace and recover additional funds.

The frozen assets are separate from the $6.34 billion reserve allocated to cover losses.

Investigation Continues as Withdrawals Face Disruption

Binance's initial investigation pointed to a potentially compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, which may have allowed attackers to access internal systems and submit unauthorised withdrawal transactions.

The exchange said it had found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked. However, further investigation uncovered additional points of breach, indicating that the incident was more complex than initially suspected.

Deposits and withdrawals were temporarily suspended while security checks were carried out. Binance said it would cover verified customer losses and publish updated proof-of-reserves information after the recovery process.

The incident has drawn attention to security risks facing major cryptocurrency exchanges and the importance of protecting customer assets.