Binance has started reopening cryptocurrency withdrawals following a major cyberattack that resulted in the theft of more than $6 billion in funds from the exchange.
The company, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, had temporarily suspended withdrawals after the attack.
In an update posted on X on Sunday, Binance announced that the first withdrawal network had been restored, beginning with the Bitcoin network.
The exchange had earlier said it planned to restart withdrawals between 0600 and 0900 GMT, using a phased process to ensure the security and stability of each network before allowing users access to their assets.
Binance said the order in which services would be restored would depend on user demand over the previous week, with each cryptocurrency and network pair undergoing checks before reopening.
On Saturday, the company disclosed that it had committed more than $6.34 billion of its own funds to cover the losses from the incident, believed to be the largest cryptocurrency theft on record.
It assured customers that their assets would not be affected by the breach, saying the company would bear the financial cost of the stolen funds.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday blamed North Korea for the attack, confirming earlier findings by private investigators and cybersecurity analysts who had linked the operation to TraderTraitor, a hacking group associated with Pyongyang.
The incident adds to a series of major cyber thefts attributed to North Korean-linked hackers. The country is believed to have developed an extensive cyber operation that generates revenue used to support its weapons programme.
News of the breach triggered a sharp decline in the prices of several major cryptocurrencies on Friday, as investors reacted to the scale of the theft and its potential impact on the market.
