Binance Sets Aside $6.34 Billion After $6.3 Billion Hack

By Elena Vasquez

Binance said on Friday that it had set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses from a $6.3 billion hack, which the exchange described as the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. About $5 billion of that reserve consists of the same token assets stolen in the incident, according to Binance.

The claim addresses asset matching rather than a completed recovery. Binance has not said how much stolen cryptocurrency has been recovered, which tokens it still needs to buy or when any remaining purchases will finish.

What does the $6.34 billion reserve cover?

A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph: “The $5 billion is held in the exact token assets that are required. These assets are in Binance custody.” The exchange did not disclose when it acquired the holdings, leaving the source of the matched assets outside the public record.

On headline figures, the $5 billion equals about 79% of the reported $6.3 billion loss, while the reserve exceeds that loss by more than $40 million. Binance did not reconcile the difference or explain its valuation basis. In plain terms, Binance says it has matched most of the affected inventory, but its purchase schedule remains incomplete.

What can the public verify?

The spokesperson declined to disclose wallet addresses, citing security reasons. Binance said the holdings will appear in its next proof-of-reserves report, which presents the assets the exchange holds to back customer balances.

That report provides a future disclosure point, but the current statement does not permit wallet-level tracing. It also does not say whether the $5 billion is segregated from other company or customer assets, so custody language alone does not establish the operational treatment of the reserve. The practical takeaway is that asset matching is claimed, while wallet-level evidence remains forthcoming.

What reporting reaches Abu Dhabi?

Binance said it provides weekly reports on its company funds to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), the financial regulator of Abu Dhabi Global Market in the United Arab Emirates. The exchange said this requirement predated the hack.

The reporting provides a recurring regulatory channel for reviewing company funds, alongside Binance’s proof-of-reserves report. Binance’s disclosure did not describe the reports’ contents, any FSRA conclusion or a deadline for the next submission. For readers, routine reporting does not itself establish that the loss reserve is complete or sufficient.

Who attributed the attack?

TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, said funds were drained from Binance wallets across 10 blockchains on Thursday. TRM attributed the attack to the North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor, while Binance confirmed the $6.3 billion loss.

The disclosures cited do not identify the 10 chains, affected tokens or token standards. Nor do they provide a quoted Binance response to TRM’s attribution, leaving the attribution as TRM’s stated assessment rather than a jointly announced finding. TRM links the theft to TraderTraitor, but the technical scope remains undisclosed.

How much has been recovered?

Binance said about $3 billion in affected assets had been frozen with help from blockchain partners. It expressly excluded those frozen assets from the company funds set aside to cover losses.

The freeze and the reserve therefore serve different operational purposes: one restricts access to affected assets, while the other provides company capital for losses. Binance has not said how much stolen crypto has been recovered, and freezing assets does not by itself prove their return.

The disclosed $5 billion in matching holdings and $3 billion in frozen assets exceed the $6.3 billion headline loss when read together. Binance supplied no reconciliation for their overlap or valuation, so the figures should not be presented as a final recovery ledger. Until Binance reconciles the figures, the disclosure shows an effort to contain the loss, not a completed recovery.

What is the next checkpoint?

The exchange said the $5 billion will appear in its next proof-of-reserves report. It did not provide a publication date, and it has yet to specify which tokens remain to be purchased or when those purchases will be completed.

The next proof-of-reserves report is the stated near-term checkpoint for testing whether the $5 billion appears as claimed. Without wallet details, that verification will still rely heavily on Binance’s own reporting.