Binance Working With FBI and Secret Service to Recover Assets After $6.3 Billion Hack
Key Takeaways
- •The FBI and the US Secret Service have publicly confirmed they are involved in investigating the $6.3 billion hack of Binance and working to recover the stolen funds.
- •Binance has reserved more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover the losses, including $5 billion already held in the affected cryptocurrencies, with wallet addresses withheld for security reasons.
- •Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs attributed the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.
- •Withdrawals remain suspended, but Binance plans to reopen them in stages starting Sunday, pending security checks, with proof-of-reserves results expected Monday.
- •Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by reserves with $134 billion in total assets, processed roughly $6 billion in outflows during the 24 hours following the incident.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service have publicly confirmed they are involved in the response to Binance's $6.3 billion hack, as efforts continue to trace and recover the stolen cryptocurrency.
The FBI told Reuters on Friday that it was working with government and industry partners to assess the scope and potential impacts of the incident and to coordinate investigative steps. A Secret Service spokesperson told Bloomberg the same day that investigators were "working around the clock" with private-sector partners to recover the stolen funds.
Binance first disclosed its cooperation with law enforcement in a Friday X post, without naming the agencies involved.
Separately, the exchange has reserved more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover the losses, including $5 billion already held in the affected cryptocurrencies. A spokesperson told Cointelegraph that those tokens were in Binance's custody, but declined to disclose the wallet addresses, citing security concerns.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs attributed the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.
Withdrawals remained suspended on Friday. Binance said it aims to begin reopening them in stages from Sunday, subject to security checks, with proof-of-reserves results also expected on Monday. Those milestones will provide the next public updates on the exchange's operational recovery and the assets held to support its response, while the FBI and Secret Service continue their investigation.
Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by reserves, holding $134 billion in total assets. It processed roughly $6 billion in outflows during the past 24 hours, according to DefiLlama.
Federal agencies have previously assisted in recovering funds stolen from exchanges. In February 2022, the US Department of Justice said law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, helped seize 94,000 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $3.6 billion at the time, linked to the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack.
Related: THORChain's RUNE jumps 13% after Binance's record $6.3B hack
Source: Cointelegraph
