NEW YORK – Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said on Oct 31 it has been able to cover 90% of the amount stolen after a record US$6.3 billion (S$8 billion) hack of its platform.
The outstanding 10% consists of tokens that are less liquid, which means they may take longer to source in the required amounts, it said in a statement.
The exchange said it has set aside around US$6.34 billion of company funds internally to cover the losses.
Binance said the replenishment involved a partial deployment of its US$1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a bitcoin reserve it holds to protect customers in the event of security breaches.
The company’s co-CEO, Richard Teng, said on Oct 30 that the breach was a “complex attack” involving a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to delete evidence of its activity, making it harder to trace and investigate.
Binance also said it had taken a new snapshot of assets held on its platform as of 0000 GMT on Oct 31, as part of its proof-of-reserves process.
Users holding the 10 listed tokens – BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and ZEC – would be able to verify that their assets were backed at a minimum 1:1 ratio once the full proof was available, it said.
The exchange said it remained on track to resume withdrawal services on Nov 1, within its previously stated timeframe. REUTERS
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