Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has confirmed it has replenished 90% of the digital assets stolen in a recent security incident. The company assured users that it would bear the full financial impact of the theft, with no losses passed on to account holders. Withdrawal services are scheduled to fully resume on November 1.
Replenishment Details and Covered Assets
In a recent update, Binance stated that it had successfully covered 90% of the affected amount, an increase from the approximately 80% reported previously, for which it had set aside over $6.34 billion in company funds. The exchange is actively working to restore the remaining 10% of less liquid tokens.
Specifically, several major cryptocurrencies are now 100% backed, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), BNB, Solana (SOL), USD Coin (USDC), XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and Zcash (ZEC). The remaining 10% consists of tokens outside these ten, which are less liquid and require more time to acquire in necessary quantities. Binance is procuring these outstanding tokens through both market and over-the-counter (OTC) channels, with support from industry partners, until 100% coverage across all affected assets is achieved.
Funding Sources for Recovery
The extensive replenishment effort leveraged three primary sources:
- Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU): A portion of this emergency reserve, established in July 2018 to protect users during security breaches, was deployed. Binance has committed to restoring SAFU to approximately $1 billion.
- Futures Insurance Fund: An excess amount from this fund, beyond its required risk-management levels, was utilized. This fund acts as a safety net against losses from liquidated futures positions.
- Binance’s Corporate Treasury: Direct company funds were also used to cover the losses.
New Proof of Reserves Snapshot
In parallel with the recovery, Binance took a fresh Proof of Reserves (PoR) snapshot at 00:00 UTC on October 31. This updated view of accounted-for assets will be available on its PoR website. The full zero-knowledge proof, enabling users to independently verify their holdings, is expected to be generated by November 3 due to the significant computational workload involved.
Users holding the ten fully covered tokens will be able to verify that their assets are backed at a minimum 1:1 ratio once the proof is available. Binance emphasized that its immediate priority remains the full restoration of withdrawal services as planned for November 1.