$3.64 bn pulled from world's largest crypto exchange Binance after $6.3 bn heist

Customers withdrew $3.64 billion from Binance after hackers stole approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency from wallets held at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange last week, triggering an initial rush of withdrawals as users moved to protect their assets. Binance said the outflows were now stabilising as it resumed services following the security breach. The withdrawals accounted for around 2.1 per cent of Binance's total assets. The exchange, which had $171 billion in assets under management as of October 28, said deposit volumes had remained "substantial" despite the initial spike in withdrawals. "(That) puts the withdrawals in the range of a precautionary reaction rather than any sort of capital flight," Ari Redbord, global head of policy at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, said, as quoted by Reuters. The pace of withdrawals is being closely watched as an early indicator of whether customers continue to trust the platform following one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts on record. Binance has sought to reassure users that the financial damage from the breach would not be passed on to them. The company said it had replaced around 95 per cent of the stolen assets using its own funds, spending approximately $6 billion to buy replacement tokens. The remaining 5 per cent comprises less liquid cryptocurrencies that could take longer to source in the required quantities. The exchange resumed withdrawals in phases on Sunday, initially allowing transactions involving 15 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Dogecoin and some stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. Binance said it was prioritising tokens based on user demand over the past week. "We are taking a phased approach by prioritizing tokens based on the past week data of user demand," the exchange said in a post on X, adding, "Rest assured that market conditions are stable." However, data from crypto analytics platform DefiLlama showed higher outflows of $5.81 billion, up from the $4.36 billion it had reported earlier. Binance disputed the figures, saying they did not account for certain deposits into its new hot wallet. "This figure does not contain the flows we have deposited to our own new hot wallet, so they are not accurate. Our last update on X is closest to accurate," a Binance spokesperson said. The broader cryptocurrency market also showed signs of recovering after the initial shock. Bitcoin, which touched a six-week low on Friday, traded above $78,000 on Monday, while Ether recovered to around $2,287 after hitting a two-month low. Meanwhile, the combined market capitalisation of the two largest stablecoins, USDT and USDC, declined by around $1.2 billion since Friday, according to CoinMarketCap. Binance has said it will bear the financial cost of the breach, setting aside approximately $6.34 billion from its corporate treasury, Futures Insurance Fund and Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) to cover the losses.