Binance Withdrawals Reopen: $3.64B Leaves After Record Hack

Binance has reopened withdrawals after its record hack, and customers wasted no time. In the first nine and a half hours after the exchange began restoring access on Sunday, 1 November, users withdrew $4.65 billion and deposited $1.01 billion, leaving a net outflow of about $3.64 billion, according to Binance. That equals 2.1% of the $171 billion in assets the exchange reported in its latest proof of reserves.

Binance says withdrawal volumes fell after an early spike, and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said that 98% of users chose to stay. The reopening is the first big test of customer confidence since the record $6.3 billion hack on 29 October. Here are the numbers, what they mean, and what to watch next.

Binance withdrawals: the key numbers

• Freeze: withdrawals were suspended for roughly 45 hours after the attack, according to CoinDesk.
• Reopening: a phased restart began at 06:00 UTC on 1 November. The first phase covered 15 networks and assets and was fully live by 12:36 UTC.
• First 9.5 hours: $4.65 billion withdrawn, $1.01 billion deposited, $3.64 billion net outflow.
• Share of reserves: 2.1% of the $171 billion shown in proof-of-reserves data as of 28 October.
• Losses covered: about 95% of the stolen assets were replaced as of Sunday, up from roughly 90% a day earlier.
• Company funds set aside: more than $6.34 billion to cover the losses.

How the reopening worked

Binance did not switch everything on at once. It restored withdrawals in phases and ordered the assets by how much users had asked for them over the previous week. Each network and asset pair was meant to return only after stability and security checks were complete. Bitcoin was the first network to open, and the first batch also covered ether, USDT, USDC, BNB, SOL and XRP, among others. The exchange said it was still testing the remaining networks and assets.

This careful approach matters. A rushed restart on a system that has just been breached could create a second problem, so the pace tells you something about how cautious the exchange is being.

What the outflow figures mean

A $3.64 billion net outflow is large in absolute terms, but it is small compared with the size of the exchange. Analysts cited by Reuters described the first-day figure as significant but not a concentrated run on the platform. Most of the net outflow came in the first couple of hours, according to Zhao, and Binance says deposits remained substantial throughout.

Independent trackers show a bigger picture, and their numbers differ depending on how flows are counted:

• CoinDesk, using DefiLlama data, reported more than $6 billion leaving Binance-linked wallets over 24 hours, roughly 3.6% of the $171 billion Binance reported before the attack.
• The same tracker still showed about $129 billion held in Binance-linked wallets afterwards, although its coverage and asset calculations differ from Binance’s own reserves figures.
• The Block, citing DefiLlama, put net outflows over 24 hours at about $4.05 billion.

Because Binance’s $171 billion figure comes from its own proof-of-reserves snapshot dated 28 October, before the attack, percentages should be read as approximate.

How much of the hack has Binance covered?

Binance says user funds remain safe and that it will absorb the financial impact itself. As of Sunday, it said it had covered about 95% of the roughly $6.3 billion in stolen assets, with bitcoin, ether, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC and XRP fully backed. Crypto.news reports that the exchange also tapped its insurance fund, and that further proof-of-reserves verification is expected on 3 November, following an asset snapshot taken on 31 October.

Behind the scenes, the investigation continues. The FBI has blamed North Korea’s TraderTraitor group for the attack, and security researchers are still debating how it was carried out, including the role of Ethereum’s EIP-7702 upgrade, which experts say did not cause the breach.

Market reaction: Bitcoin holds steady

Bitcoin barely moved on the news. It finished Monday morning at about $77,674 on Coinbase, almost exactly where it started on Sunday, and briefly touched $78,762 on Sunday evening. Earlier in the week it had dipped toward $76,300 as the hack and a firm Federal Reserve weighed on sentiment.

Fund flows are a different story. Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded about $643 million of net outflows on 30 October, their biggest exit since June, while spot ether ETFs lost roughly $156 million. That is a sharp reversal from the inflows we covered when Bitcoin ETFs turned October positive. Traders are now watching Tuesday’s US midterm elections and Friday’s jobs report for the next market-moving signals.

What to watch next

• Proof of reserves: the updated verification expected on 3 November will show how Binance’s balances look after the outflows.
• Remaining networks: whether the rest of the supported assets reopen smoothly after testing.
• Outflow trend: whether withdrawals keep slowing and deposits keep returning, as Binance says they are.
• Full repayment: how quickly the remaining 5% of the loss is covered.
• Official findings: any further details from Binance or investigators about how the attack happened.

This article is general information, not financial advice. Whether to keep assets on an exchange or in your own wallet is a personal decision, and both options carry risks.

Binance withdrawals: FAQ

Sources

• The Block: Binance sees $3.64 billion in net outflows after reopening withdrawals
• CNBC: Binance sees $3.64 billion in net outflows as withdrawals resume