Binance says it replenished $6.34B as USDT reserves fell

Binance said on November 13 that it had committed more than $6.34 billion in corporate funds to replace cryptocurrency assets affected by its October 29 security breach.

The exchange’s November 12 proof-of-reserves snapshot, taken at 00:00 UTC, showed user USDT holdings down 3.68% to 24,299,050,229 tokens from about 25.23 billion on November 4. Wu Blockchain’s comparison put the eight-day reduction at exactly 928,178,849 USDT, or roughly 928.2 million tokens.

What did Binance’s reserves show?

User Bitcoin holdings rose by 2,388 BTC to 687,912, up 0.35% from 685,524. Ethereum increased by 35,911 ETH, or 1.04%, to 3,482,001 from 3,446,090. BNB rose by 436,746 tokens, or 1.03%, to 42,948,718 from 42,511,972.

The latest review covered 198 cryptocurrencies, up from 44 in the November 4 snapshot. Binance said it conducted the additional review outside its regular monthly reporting schedule to document the restoration of affected assets.

USDT’s decline continued an earlier post-breach trend. crypto.news reported that user USDT holdings had fallen 7.95% between October 1 and October 31, reaching about 29.48 billion tokens. Ethereum balances fell 3.80% to 3.65 million ETH over the same period, while Bitcoin rose 0.52% to 692,187 BTC.

USDT posted the largest decline among the four assets examined in Wu Blockchain’s comparison, and its balance continued to fall after October 31. Ethereum recovered between November 4 and November 12.

Binance’s reserve figures represent customer asset balances recorded at specific points in time. They can change as customers deposit, withdraw or trade cryptocurrencies on the exchange.

How did Binance fund the replenishment?

The November 13 announcement said Binance had “fully replenished” the affected cryptocurrency assets. It said it purchased replacement cryptocurrencies through market transactions and over-the-counter trading desks.

Three sources funded the response: Binance’s Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU; the portion of its Futures Insurance Fund exceeding required risk-management levels; and corporate treasury funds.

Binance had reached approximately 98% replenishment by November 4. It said certain cryptocurrencies took longer to replace because of limited market liquidity.

What did the October 29 breach involve?

Attackers gained access to Binance’s wallet infrastructure after compromising employee devices and internal systems through malicious software and fraudulent recruitment, according to the exchange. Binance subsequently resumed customer withdrawals in phases.

During the first nine and a half hours after withdrawals resumed, customers withdrew approximately $4.65 billion while deposits totaled $1.01 billion. The difference produced net outflows of roughly $3.64 billion.

Separate blockchain flow estimates from Santiment identified approximately 28,316 BTC in net outflows from Binance-associated wallets between the attack and November 5.

How can customers verify the reserve data?

Binance said generating the complete zero-knowledge proof would take approximately 40 to 50 hours. Once complete, customers could independently verify that their balances were backed by reserves of “at least 1:1.”

The verification system uses Merkle trees and zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs. Binance said it allows customers to check whether their account balances are included in the exchange’s reported holdings.

Binance separately committed to restoring its SAFU emergency reserve to approximately $1 billion after using part of the fund during replenishment. For affected cryptocurrencies no longer supported on the platform, it said existing delisting procedures would apply and eligible holders would receive financial protection.

The next operational checkpoint is completion of Binance’s 40-to-50-hour zero-knowledge proof, after which customers can independently test the reported 1:1 reserve backing.