Binance sees outflows stabilising as exchange returns online after US$6.3 billion heist

The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange has moved to reassure crypto investors and said withdrawals were stabilising after an initial spike.

Binance is the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. (File photo: Reuters/Dado Ruvic)

Binance customers pulled US$3.64 billion, or 2.1 per cent of its assets, as the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange resumed service after a security breach linked to North Korea saw US$6.3 billion stolen from the platform last week.

The exchange moved to reassure crypto investors and said withdrawals were stabilising after an initial spike and deposit volumes had remained "substantial" after what analysts believe may be the world's biggest financial robbery ever.

After hitting a six-week low on Friday, bitcoin prices recovered slightly through the weekend to trade above US$78,000 on Monday. Ether hit a two-month low on Friday and also recovered a little to US$2,287.

Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally. It said on Sunday it had US$171 billion in total assets under management as of Oct 28.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less The Binance theft adds to a string of recent crypto thefts. Attackers stole US$2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 incidents last year, according to researchers at TRM Labs.

Withdrawal levels are an early test of whether customers still trust Binance with their money after the attack. The exchange said it had covered 95 per cent of the assets stolen in the heist.

Stablecoin market capitalisations tend to fall when money is leaving cryptocurrencies and they have dropped since Friday. The combined capitalisation of the two largest stablecoins, USDT and USDC, has dropped by about US$1.2 billion since Friday, according to Coinmarketcap.com.

Spot bitcoin ETFs shed US$643 million on Friday, the largest daily outflow of October, and more than US$1.3 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at US blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs.

"I get why, for conservative institutional investors, this is unsettling," Redbord said.

"A hack at a financial institution means stolen usernames and passwords. A hack at a crypto exchange is bank robbery at the speed of the internet, which creates an unstable risk profile for anyone responsible for other people’s capital."