Binance resumes withdrawals after theft of US$6.3 billion, and net outflow reaches US$3.6 billion

Binance began releasing withdrawals on Sunday (1), following a theft of US$6.3 billion in crypto assets on Thursday (29), which Seu Dinheiro classifies as the biggest hacker attack in history. According to the publication, the exchange recorded net withdrawals of around US$3.64 billion between the morning and early afternoon of Sunday, the equivalent of R$19.5 billion for the conversion made by Revista Oeste.

The detailed numbers, also according to Seu Dinheiro, show withdrawals of US$4.649 billion against deposits of US$1.01 billion, which results in a net outflow equivalent to 2.1% of the brokerage's assets under management. Times Brasil, with data from DefiLlama, points to accumulated withdrawals of US$5.165 billion, around R$28 billion. The clippings are not identical, so it is worth checking the methodology of each survey.

The return to operations is also partial. According to Seu Dinheiro, the team continues to test networks and remaining assets, and the next phase has no set date. Times Brasil reports that Binance has released withdrawals in US dollars, United Arab Emirates dirham, Vietnamese dong, Philippine peso and Indonesian rupiah.

Regarding authorship, Seu Dinheiro reports that the United States suspects North Korea, while Money Times cites analysts who attribute the robbery to the same country. Binance, in turn, claims that market conditions are stable. The origin of the attack, therefore, still appears as a hypothesis in the sources consulted.

The episode gained a second chapter on Monday (2), when Mercado Bitcoin suspended deposits and withdrawals as a preventive measure following a security incident, according to Money Times. The brokerage did not disclose the official amount, but unofficial trackers indicate around US$40 million moved. The Mercado Bitcoin case occurred less than three days after that of Binance, which reignites the discussion about the security of centralized platforms.

What is at stake goes beyond the two companies. When billions of dollars leave a broker in a few days, investors start to question where their assets are held, who controls the keys and how much liquidity depends on a single platform. For a market that presents itself as an alternative to the traditional financial system, the proof of maturity involves security and transparency, not just innovation.

What changes for the investor

The facts gathered do not allow us to project the price trajectory, and this text does not suggest the purchase or sale of any asset. The most immediate effect is caution: the outflow of resources reduces the liquidity available on the platform, and the incident tends to weigh on the perception of custody risk in centralized brokers. For those who operate, the practical point is to check where their assets are, assess how much capital is concentrated in a single institution and follow official announcements about the complete resumption of services.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.