Binance resumes withdrawals in phases; FBI formally blames North Korea's TraderTraitor
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Answer first: Binance began resuming phase-one withdrawals on November 1 between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC, and both CoinDesk (Nov. 1, citing a Binance spokesperson) and Reuters confirmed bitcoin withdrawals actually resumed. The FBI formally blamed North Korea's state-backed TraderTraitor group for the record $6 billion-plus theft.
Key points
- Phase one: 15 networks (BTC, ETH, BSC, TRX, SOL, XRP, ZEC, DOGE, TON, MATIC, AVAXC, ARBITRUM, BASE, OP, SUI) per Binance's official Recovery Update #4; deposits never stopped
- Recovery: 95% of stolen assets repurchased with company funds (Reuters, November 1); Binance's October 31 notice said 90% — a snapshot difference
- Funding: the $1B SAFU fund, part of the futures insurance fund, and treasury funds; Binance says it will absorb the impact, not users
- Attribution: FBI, with USSS and IRS-CI, observed TraderTraitor converting stolen assets mainly into Ethereum and published related wallet addresses
Why it's trending
Selection basis: the third day of fallout from the largest exchange hack on record (about $6.3B) dominated crypto coverage on November 1, with resumption and attribution arriving simultaneously.
What's confirmed / What's not
Confirmed: the FBI's formal attribution, the start of phase-one withdrawals, and the replenishment in progress.
Not confirmed: full normalization timing and recovery of the remaining low-liquidity assets. President Trump said October 31 the US is "not yet certain" North Korea was involved (White House video on X, via Reuters) — a different nuance from the FBI's conclusion.
What to watch
Later withdrawal phases, the promised proof-of-reserves publication, and any law-enforcement recovery actions.
Sources
- Binance official 'Security Incident | Recovery Update #4' 2026-10-31
- FBI 'North Korea Responsible for $6 Billion+ Binance Attack' 2026-10-31
- Reuters via Yahoo News Japan 2026-11-01
- CoinDesk 'Binance begins phased withdrawals starting with bitcoin' 2026-11-01
- Associated Press 2026-11-01