Binance's emergency Bitcoin wallet now holds about half its previous balance after the exchange tapped its user protection fund to cover a $6.3 billion hack. The exchange also released a reserve proof for 10 cryptocurrencies, but its SAFU policy sets no timeline for refilling the fund.
Binance's publicly disclosed emergency Bitcoin wallet held roughly half its previous balance on Monday, after the exchange used its user protection fund to cover losses from Thursday's $6.3 billion hack. The exchange confirmed a transfer of 7,499 Bitcoin on Saturday, linking it to the partial deployment of its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU).
As of Monday, the wallet held about 7,500 BTC, worth $583 million, down from about 15,000 BTC before the transfer.
SAFU policy sets no deadline to replace used funds
Binance's SAFU policy says that if the fund's market value falls below $800 million because of BTC price fluctuations, the exchange will rebalance it to $1 billion. However, the policy does not specify a timeline for replenishing funds withdrawn after a security incident.
Binance did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph's questions about SAFU's remaining reserves, further deployments and plans to replenish the fund. Meanwhile, the exchange is using its corporate treasury, SAFU and part of its futures insurance fund to cover the losses.
Reserve proof covers 10 cryptocurrencies
Binance said on Monday that users could now verify their balances against its Saturday proof-of-reserves snapshot, after it completed the accompanying cryptographic proof. The snapshot showed customer holdings in 10 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether and USDT, were backed at least 1:1.
Crypto.news reported that the proof arrived ahead of the previously estimated November 3 completion date. Binance plans another snapshot on Wednesday covering more tokens, and the accompanying proof is expected to take another 40 to 50 hours to generate.
Binance says about 95% of affected assets replenished
Binance began reopening withdrawals in phases on Sunday and said it had replenished approximately 95% of the affected assets, up from 90% a day earlier. The exchange continues buying the remaining, less-liquid tokens through market and over-the-counter transactions.
The FBI attributed the attack to North Korea on Saturday, identifying the hackers as TraderTraitor.
Sources: Cointelegraph, crypto.news
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