Binance has started letting users take their money out again, days after the biggest crypto theft on record forced the exchange to freeze outflows. The first phase of the reopening began on Sunday, November 1, 2026, with the company promising to restore access in stages.
Phase one covers the most-used coins
Binance said it prioritised assets based on the previous week’s user demand. The first batch covers 15 blockchain network groups. Supported assets include Bitcoin, Ether, BNB, Solana, XRP and Dogecoin, plus the stablecoins USDT and USDC. The exchange warned that heavy traffic could cause delays, and advised users whose withdrawals fail to try again after a short while.
Users rushed for the exit
The demand was heavy. Binance reported about $4.65 billion in withdrawals on Sunday between 06:00 and 15:30 GMT, against roughly $1.01 billion in deposits. That left a net outflow of about $3.64 billion, around 2.1 percent of the assets the platform holds. This is sizeable, but it is not the run on the exchange some feared.
How the attackers got in
The attack happened on Thursday, October 29, when hackers compromised Binance’s hot wallets and pushed through unauthorised withdrawals worth about $6.3 billion. Binance’s early findings point to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. The attacker reportedly used it to reach a service container and submit the fraudulent transactions. The investigation is ongoing, so those details may change.
The FBI blames North Korea
On Saturday, the FBI said North Korea was responsible. It named a group called TraderTraitor, the same actor it linked to the $1.5 billion Bybit theft in February 2025. The agency said it had seen the stolen assets being converted into Ether and expected them to be laundered through decentralised finance platforms and instant swap services. It urged businesses to block transactions tied to the addresses involved. US President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether North Korea was behind the attack, saying the facts were still being learned.
Binance says it will cover the losses
Binance said it has set aside more than $6.34 billion of company funds to absorb the loss. By Saturday it had bought back about 90 percent of the stolen tokens, and later updates put the figure near 95 percent. The remainder is mostly less liquid tokens that take longer to source in the required amounts. The company has promised to cover the full financial impact for users.
Markets took a beating
News of the hack knocked prices across the market. Bitcoin fell nearly 5 percent, Ether nearly 6 percent and BNB almost 10 percent, with Bitcoin dropping below $77,000 at one point.
What it means for Nigerian users
Nigerians can still access their Binance accounts, but the exchange stopped its naira services in March 2024. That means no naira deposits, withdrawals or trading pairs. The company is also still in legal proceedings with Nigerian authorities over alleged unauthorised operations. Users who hold crypto on the platform will mainly care about one thing now: whether the remaining withdrawal phases arrive quickly and without problems.
What to watch next
Three things will show how well Binance recovers. The first is how fast it reopens the remaining tokens and networks. The second is whether it completes the buyback of the less liquid assets. The third is whether more of the stolen funds can be traced or frozen as the laundering continues. Until then, users who need to move funds should expect some friction, and the hack is a reminder that even the largest exchanges carry risk.
