Binance Reassures Users That $6.3 Billion in Stolen Crypto Is, Like, Pocket Money to Them

Crypto exchange Binance is working to reassure users that the $6.3 billion heist pulled on them Thursday isn’t a prelude to another Mt. Gox- or FTX-style implosion. Binance has assured users that any stolen wallets are covered and all user assets are safe, Reuters reported. The exchange’s decision to halt withdrawals in the wake of the incident had triggered some worry within the crypto community about its overall stability. The company wrote in a second security update on X on Friday afternoon that it is targeting resumption of withdrawals “within approximately 34 hours, subject to the completion of security checks,” or approximately 2:20 p.m. on Sunday. Cybersecurity experts have said the most likely suspects in the shocking hack—arguably the largest single theft in human history, and certainly the largest robbery of a (pseudo-) financial institution—are North Korean state-tied hackers. According to Reuters, Binance representatives have said they have frozen around $3 billion of the stolen crypto with the help of partners, but haven’t given any indications as to their success locking down the remaining $3.3 billion. Binance co-CEO Yi He has insisted on X that $6.3 billion is a negligible portion of the company’s total assets and reserves (around 2%) and that user funds are “SAFU” (Secure Asset Fund for Users), a financial term that’s caught on as crypto shorthand. Many crypto prices crashed in the wake of the attack, though Reuters noted “losses were contained.” At the bottom of the Binance post, a disclaimer hinted that customers whose investment values crashed during the withdrawal period would be out of luck: “Digital asset prices are subject to high market risk and price volatility. The value of your investment may go down or up, and you may not get back the amount invested. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions and Binance is not liable for any losses you may incur.” President Donald Trump, Reuters reported, was asked about the hacks on Friday afternoon and responded with nonchalance, more or less: “It was a hack. That’s the problem. You know the old-fashioned way when you used to sign a ‌check, take it out. ⁠These are different. People never see the money anymore. So I’ve always felt it was a little bit dangerous. But no, they (Binance) say they have it pretty much under control.” He didn’t claim any knowledge as to who the attacker is, but noted his administration is taking some vague kind of action. Binance is also working with the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, which in addition to protecting the president is the primary agency that handles threats to the security of U.S. financial and payment infrastructure. Reuters noted that community outrage was muted compared to the days following the 2022 implosion of FTX. Bitwise Asset Management chief investment officer Matt Hougan told the agency, “Looking at all past data, we find that hot wallet hacks — even large ones — have historically not had a meaningful impact on future crypto returns.” In other words, hacks are a temporary headache rather than indicative of some looming FTX-style structural collapse. In any case, Binance’s sheer size and dominance might not yet be too big to fail, but it certainly seems too big to easily dent, even to the tune of a few billion dollars. Coindesk reported on Friday that while financial and legal experts were generally supportive of quick action by Tether, Circle, Ripple, and World Liberty Financial to freeze funds, they questioned whether the only reason the firms snapped to attention so quickly was because Binance was the victim. “When Binance gets hacked, the industry freezes nearly $3 billion within hours,” Anton Golub, an executive at crypto infrastructure firm Forte, told Coindesk. “When smaller players get hacked, we hear about court orders and legal restrictions. The rules should be the same for everyone.” Frank Hepworth, the founder and CEO of New Market Trading, also told the site that any time exchanges freeze funds they are “setting themselves up for liability if they freeze wrongly — not to mention the huge operational burden of sorting out right from wrong.” Perhaps, but the same excess that made Binance a juicy target also means it can probably afford to barge on through.