Binance puts withdrawals on hold after $6.3 billion security incident

Binance users can still deposit, but they cannot withdraw while the exchange checks its systems after a security incident with an estimated $6.3 billion impact. The pause affects access to funds on the exchange, even as Binance says customer funds are safe. In its security incident update, Binance said about $3 billion in affected assets had been frozen on-chain and that it would cover all losses with its SAFU fund and company funds.

What can Binance users do while withdrawals are paused?

Deposits remain available, according to Binance’s latest update, but withdrawals are suspended while security checks continue. The exchange has not announced a fee for the pause or set a confirmed reopening time in its support announcement. A separate post from Binance said it expected withdrawals to resume within 48 hours, but that is an estimate rather than a confirmed restart.

For users who need to move assets off the exchange, the immediate limit is practical: they must wait for withdrawals to reopen. Binance says it revoked authorization for affected addresses and is working with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover assets. It has not published a full technical account of the incident.

What does Binance say caused the incident?

Binance’s initial investigation suggests a DevOps engineer’s laptop may have been compromised, allowing an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. The exchange says it has found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked. Those findings remain preliminary; Binance says it will publish a detailed post-mortem after the investigation and verification of facts are complete.

The $6.3 billion figure is Binance’s estimate of the total impact, not a confirmed amount stolen. The exchange says about $3 billion has been frozen on-chain so far. The Associated Press also reported that Binance had not explicitly confirmed funds were pilfered when it first announced the investigation, underscoring that the full scale and mechanics were still unclear.

How does Binance say customers will be made whole?

Binance says it will cover all losses through its Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, and company funds, and that user funds are safe. It also plans to publish an updated proof of reserves after remediation, which should give customers a later view of assets held against liabilities. Neither the reserve update nor the technical post-mortem is available yet.

For now, users can check Binance’s official channels for service updates and contact customer support with account questions. Binance has not supplied a confirmed time for withdrawals to resume in its support notice, so customers should treat the service as unavailable until the exchange says otherwise. The Associated Press report likewise described the investigation and the extent of the damage as unresolved.

Source material

• security incident update — binance.com
• Associated Press report — apnews.com