Binance finds more breach points and sets aside $6.34 billion for losses
Victoria Shinder2 min readBinance published a second update on its hot wallet breach at 19:33 UTC on 30 October, signed by its co-CEOs, Yi and Richard. It restates the scale given the day before, about $6.3 billion in token assets taken after the hot wallets were compromised at around 20:05 UTC on 29 October, and changes the account of how it happened.
The first update had pointed to a compromised laptop. The new one says the initial investigation suggested that, but that later work "has uncovered additional points of breach". The exchange says it has found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked, and that it expects to share verified technical findings within about 48 hours.
On losses, Binance says it will cover all stolen funds through its Secure Asset Fund for Users and its corporate treasury. It has set aside more than $6.34 billion, of which $5 billion is held in the same tokens that were stolen, including USDC, USDT, BTC, ETH and BNB, which it describes as covering about 80% of the impacted amount; it is buying the rest through the market and OTC desks. About $3 billion has been frozen on-chain with the help of law enforcement, blockchain analytics firms and token issuers.
Withdrawals remain suspended while deposits and other services run. The update says the technical team aims to start resuming withdrawals in phases within approximately 34 hours, subject to security checks, which puts the target around the early hours of 1 November UTC. Binance also plans an initial proof-of-reserves snapshot within 12 hours of the update, with results by Monday, 2 November, and a full post-mortem report.
What it means
Three dates now frame the next days: phased withdrawals from roughly 1 November, reserve results on 2 November and technical findings around the same time. The change from "a laptop" to "additional points of breach" matters more than the totals, because it means the containment work is still finding entry points. Until withdrawals actually move, the commitment to cover losses is a promise backed by funds Binance says it holds, and the proof of reserves is the first chance to check that.