Investors withdraw $3.6 billion from Binance after hacker attack

The theft of US$6.3 billion (around R$34.2 billion) in cryptocurrencies from Binance, the largest broker in the sector in the world, has not yet caused a widespread loss of confidence among investors.

Despite this, the attack should increase the caution of large investors and reinforce concerns about the security of the digital asset market, according to analysts.

Binance customers withdrew US$3.64 billion (around R$19.8 billion) more than they deposited on the platform over nine and a half hours on Sunday, when the company partially resumed withdrawals.

The movement is considered a first test of confidence. According to the broker, the net amount withdrawn represented 2.1% of the assets held on the platform, a percentage considered relatively low by analysts.

“Our top priority at this time is to ensure the environment is safe; only then will users be able to withdraw their funds and Binance can resume operations,” said Binance co-CEO Yi He in an X post on Monday (2).

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have also stabilized, while trading volume has increased.

Still, investors remain shaken by what may have been the biggest financial robbery in history.

The broker was the target of an attack on Thursday night, attributed to North Korean hackers by the FBI, the United States federal police, and analysts.

Binance reported that it is covering the losses and has already raised US$6 billion to compensate for the losses. The resources came from the company's cash flow, an insurance fund and a reserve intended to cover security incidents.

“This has not yet triggered widespread panic or a massive, concentrated withdrawal,” said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, a Hong Kong-based digital asset financial services company.

"However, the impact of this incident on market confidence likely goes far beyond the value of the stolen assets. Security concerns are likely to influence the volume of resources allocated to cryptocurrencies by large financial institutions and different investor profiles," he added.

Binance, which claims to have more than 335 million users worldwide and moves, on average, US$95 billion per day in trading digital assets and financial contracts linked to these assets, has also taken steps to reassure customers.

“After an initial peak, outflow volumes have decreased and are stabilizing,” the company stated on X. According to the broker, around US$4.6 billion in withdrawals and US$1 billion in deposits were recorded on Sunday.

Investors are not in a hurry to withdraw resources

Investors interviewed by Reuters stated that they intend to maintain their accounts at Binance, despite the attack.

“I wouldn’t necessarily take everything away from Binance, because centralized exchanges continue to play an important role in liquidity, trading and market access,” said Jay Koh, vice president of the Asia Web3 AI Association, a Singapore-based organization that promotes the development of blockchain technology.

Binance customer Ryan Tan also said he is in no rush to withdraw his funds. According to him, the balance held on the platform was already relatively low since the collapse of FTX, another cryptocurrency broker, four years ago.

“After the collapse of FTX, I decided to keep everything in my portfolio instead of leaving the funds with brokers,” said the 39-year-old investor.

After reaching a six-week low on Friday, bitcoin recovered over the weekend and returned to trading above US$78,000 this Monday.

Ether also recovered after reaching its lowest price in two months.

The total market value of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies usually pegged to traditional currencies such as the dollar, has fallen since Friday.

The movement may indicate that some investors are withdrawing resources from the cryptocurrency market and migrating to cash or traditional investments.

Binance reported that it has resumed bitcoin withdrawals through the cryptocurrency network itself, in addition to ether and some stablecoins linked to the dollar through the Ethereum network. Despite this, the broker's website still indicated restrictions on withdrawals for most cryptocurrencies.