Crypto firm Binance covers 90% of losses after $6.3bn hack

Binance says it has covered 90% of the $6.3bn (£4.7bn) in assets stolen in a hack on Thursday. The company said the remaining 10% may take longer to source in the required amounts.

Binance said it has set aside more than $6.34bn in company funds to cover all losses. "Binance will absorb the financial impact of these stolen funds, not our users," the company said in a statement on Saturday. It said it replenished the stolen assets using various funds and its corporate treasury, and that bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether holdings, along with seven other widely traded crypto assets, are covered.

In an update on Sunday, Binance said withdrawals had been restored on several of its networks. They had been suspended after the hack and were being resumed in phases.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Saturday that North Korea was responsible for the attack. The FBI said it had observed hackers converting stolen assets into Ethereum and expects the assets will be converted again using decentralised finance and instant swap services. Two analytics firms told the BBC they had intelligence pointing to the Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor, as the likely culprits. North Korea has denied involvement in these attacks.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US is still unsure who the culprits are. "We're learning about it. We don't know if it's North Korea - but if it is, we'll talk to North Korea about it," he said.

Binance's initial investigation suggested an engineer's laptop was compromised. A later update said it had uncovered "additional points of breach." Richard Teng, Binance's co-chief executive officer, said more than one person carried out the hack and that the hackers used a "self-destruct mechanism" to hide their tracks.

On Friday, Binance said it had frozen around $3bn of stolen assets with help from law enforcement, intelligence firms and partners. The investigation is ongoing. The US Secret Service said it is "working around the clock" with private sector partners to trace and recover the funds.