Binance outlined a recovery plan in an Oct. 30 security update after a hot-wallet compromise it placed at about 8:05 p.m. UTC on Oct. 29. It aimed to begin restoring withdrawals within about 34 hours of the update, but only after security checks, repairs and validation of affected systems. Binance said deposits and unaffected services remained operational.
Binance estimated losses at $6.3 billion and pledged to cover them with its SAFU fund and corporate reserves rather than charge users. It said $5 billion in matching tokens already held covered about 80% of losses, while purchases to obtain the rest were underway. Binance reported about $3 billion in stolen assets frozen onchain; Elliptic put verified freezes at $2.84 billion as of 8 a.m. UTC on Oct. 30. Frozen assets had not necessarily been recovered.
Initial findings suggested a compromised employee laptop enabled unauthorized withdrawal submissions, but Binance said the full attack sequence was still under investigation and it had found no evidence of leaked wallet private keys.
