Binance says it has replaced 90% of the assets stolen in a massive $6.3 billion cryptocurrency hack, bringing the exchange closer to its goal of resuming withdrawals on Sunday.
The latest update marks an improvement from Friday, when Binance reported that 80% of the stolen assets had been replenished. However, some less-liquid cryptocurrencies remain outstanding as the exchange continues purchasing replacement tokens through market and over-the-counter (OTC) transactions.
Binance Uses Corporate Funds to Cover Hack Losses
Binance confirmed on Saturday that it is using several financial resources to replace the stolen cryptocurrencies and protect customer balances.
According to a company spokesperson, the exchange is drawing on its corporate treasury, part of its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), and a portion of its futures insurance fund.
The spokesperson emphasized that Binance, rather than its customers, would bear the financial losses associated with the security breach. The company also maintained that its insurance fund would continue meeting the necessary risk management requirements.
However, Binance did not disclose how much each funding source contributed or reveal the minimum balance required for its insurance fund.
North Korean Hackers Linked to Record Crypto Theft
The incident occurred on Thursday and has been described as the largest cryptocurrency hack ever recorded.
Blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs subsequently linked the attack to TraderTraitor, a hacking group associated with North Korea.
Following the breach, Binance announced on Friday that it had allocated approximately $6.34 billion to compensate for the losses. This included $5 billion intended to replace the affected cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, major cryptocurrency companies, including Tether and Circle, reportedly froze around $3 billion in assets connected to the attack.
These frozen assets are separate from Binance’s ongoing efforts to replenish stolen customer funds.
Binance Faces Questions Over Proof of Reserves
Despite the exchange’s progress, questions remain about the independent verification of its replacement assets.
Blockchain security company CertiK told Cointelegraph on Friday that additional information was necessary to confirm Binance’s reported $5 billion in replacement cryptocurrencies.
In response, Binance released an updated reserves snapshot. However, the exchange acknowledged that its complete cryptographic proof was still being prepared.
According to Binance, generating the full zero-knowledge proof requires approximately 40 to 50 hours because of the substantial computational resources involved.
The company also stated on X that customer holdings in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and eight additional cryptocurrencies were fully backed.
Sunday Withdrawal Restart Remains the Target
Binance continues working to address the remaining asset shortfall, primarily involving cryptocurrencies with lower market liquidity.
The exchange is purchasing these tokens through traditional market transactions and OTC trading channels as it works toward restoring full asset coverage.
Although Binance remains optimistic about restarting withdrawals on Sunday, the company has not provided a detailed breakdown of the cryptocurrencies still awaiting replacement.
Furthermore, it has not disclosed the total value of stolen assets actually recovered from the hackers.
For now, Binance’s ability to resume withdrawals as planned will remain a key development for customers and the broader cryptocurrency market.
