After $6.3 Billion Theft, How Much Does Binance Have Left to Cover the Losses?
- Key Takeaways: Binance was attacked by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group, with approximately $6.3 billion in assets stolen. However, leveraging its massive capital reserves and SAFU fund, and after deducting the $3 billion already frozen, the actual compensation shortfall is only about $2.14 billion—a limited impact on its overall financial position.
- Key Elements:
- Binance has over 335 million global users, customer assets exceeding $129.4 billion, and 2025 revenue of approximately $16-17 billion, making it the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
- Proof of reserves from early October shows all major asset reserve ratios at no less than 100%, with total asset valuation at approximately $166.1 billion. The compromised wallet "Binance 14" involved 37 types of assets, and the ETH reserve ratio may drop to approximately 94%.
- The SAFU fund holds 15,000 BTC, valued at approximately $1.157 billion, which can be used to backstop compensation.
- Compensation shortfall calculation: $6.3 billion stolen - $3 billion frozen - $1.157 billion SAFU ≈ $2.143 billion, representing only 1.65% of customer assets, 1.3% of reserves, and approximately 12.6% of annual revenue.
- In 2019, Binance's hot wallet was hacked for 7,000 BTC (approximately $40.7 million), which was fully covered by the SAFU fund and properly handled—providing precedent experience for response.
Original | Odaily@OdailyChina)
Author | Wenser (@wenser 2010)
Woke up to shocking news!
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, was suddenly hacked for $6.3 billion, suspected to be the work of North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group. Around 9 AM, Binance stated that approximately $3 billion in assets had been confirmed frozen, and user funds were safe; He Yi emphasized that Binance will bear all losses caused by this hack.
The crypto market's focus has also shifted — from "the scale of Binance's stolen funds and the impact on the crypto market" to "can Binance cover the asset shortfall from this hack?" Odaily will briefly explore and analyze this question in this article with relevant data for readers' reference.
Lifting the Veil on the "World's Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange": Nearly $130 Billion in Customer Assets, Approximately $166 Billion in Reserve Assets Before the Hack
Before discussing Binance's potential losses in the billions of dollars, let's first understand what underpins Binance's position as the undisputed "world's largest cryptocurrency exchange."
Binance's 9 Years: 335 Million Users, Over $129.4 Billion in Customer Assets
According to Binance's "2025 Blockchain Industry Annual Review Report," Binance's total trading volume in 2025 reached $34 trillion, with spot trading volume exceeding $7.1 trillion, and average daily trading volume across all products growing 18% year-over-year. Binance Alpha 2.0 surpassed $1 trillion in trading volume in 2025, attracting 17 million users; it also prevented $6.69 billion in potential losses for 5.4 million users.
According to Binance's official website, as of the time of writing, Binance's global user base has exceeded 335 million; customer assets exceed $129.4 billion; 24-hour trading volume exceeds $125.5 billion, making it the undisputed global leader.
According to media and third-party estimates, Binance's full-year revenue in 2024 was approximately $16.8 billion, with net profit of approximately $464 million; 2025 revenue was approximately $16-17 billion.
Binance Proof of Reserves: Early October Snapshot All at or Above 100%, Total Asset Scale Exceeding $166 Billion
After the FTX collapse, exchange Proof of Reserves (PoR) became an industry standard, and Binance is one of the leading exchanges driving this industry standard.
According to the latest Proof of Reserves data released in early October this year, Binance's major asset reserve ratios were all no less than 100% at that time. Specifically:
BTC reserve ratio 100.35%, net account balance 688,572.68 BTC, on-chain wallet balance 691,003.593 BTC;
ETH reserve ratio 100.00%, net account balance 3,799,136.43 ETH, on-chain wallet balance 3,799,139.752 ETH;
USDT reserve ratio 103.88%, net account balance approximately 32.028 billion, on-chain wallet balance approximately 33.271 billion;
USDC reserve ratio 108.26%, net account balance approximately 7.178 billion, on-chain wallet balance approximately 7.771 billion.
BNB, SOL, and XRP reserve ratios were 100.47%, 100.00%, and 100.77%, respectively.
Calculated at current prices, the combined net balances of the 6 major coins BTC/ETH/USDT/USDC/BNB/SOL total approximately $133.6 billion; the combined on-chain wallet balances total approximately $135.8 billion. This PoR period covered approximately 55 coins, with third-party Verifelse pricing the full amount at approximately $166.1 billion for the same period.
It is worth noting that the hacked wallet "Binance 14" was also a reserve asset storage wallet, holding approximately 1.26 billion USDT and 89,475 ETH at the time, covering 37 assets in total. According to CoinDesk's report, approximately 204,500 ETH was stolen this time, accounting for about 5.6% of its ETH reserves, which would put the ETH reserve ratio at approximately 94%; stolen assets including ENA, UNI, PEPE, and AAVE account for approximately 7% to 15% of Binance's corresponding holdings, and USDC and some altcoin reserve ratios may also fall below 100%. The 1st of each month is the fixed date for Binance to publish its PoR proof of reserves, with the next release on November 1st — at which point we can pay attention to the corresponding fund replenishment situation.
SAFU Fund: Binance's Backup Safety Fund, 15,000 BTC, Worth Over $1.15 Billion
In addition to the above funds, Binance has another source of funds to backstop this attack event — the previously mentioned SAFU fund. According to on-chain data, this fund currently contains 15,000 BTC, worth approximately $1.157 billion at current BTC prices.
Binance's Compensation Gap: $6.3 Billion Stolen - $3 Billion Frozen - $1.15 Billion SAFU Fund = ?
With the basic information covered, the subsequent compensation gap Binance faces in this hack incident naturally comes to light.
The currently confirmed stolen fund scale is $6.3 billion, with confirmed frozen assets totaling approximately $3 billion; SAFU fund assets total approximately $1.157 billion; this leaves Binance with a compensation fund gap reduced to $2.143 billion.
Data Comparison: What Does $2.14 Billion Mean for Binance?
This loss gap represents approximately 12.6% of Binance's 2025 revenue of approximately $17 billion (estimated); only 1.65% of its total customer assets of $129.4 billion; and only 1.3% of its previous total reserve scale of $166 billion.
If estimated based on Binance's 2024 net profit scale, the remaining fund gap of approximately $2.14 billion is equivalent to approximately 4.76 years of Binance's net profit; if calculated based on Binance's current valuation of $100 billion, this loss accounts for approximately 2.1%; if calculated based on CZ's previous Forbes net worth of approximately $110 billion, this fund gap accounts for only 1.9%.
In summary, for other smaller exchanges, this amount might already far exceed their total assets; but for Binance, with its massive scale, this fund gap will take some time to fill but will not cause fundamental damage.
Binance Will Certainly Get Through This, and the Crypto Industry Will Continue
In May 2019, Binance's hot wallet also suffered a hack, losing approximately 7,000 BTC, worth about $40.7 million at the time. After the incident, Binance immediately emphasized that user funds were unaffected, with related losses fully covered by the SAFU fund, and the incident was ultimately handled smoothly.
Although the scale of stolen funds is larger and involves more coin types this time, as the leader of the crypto industry, Binance is the "crypto market barometer." We believe that with its past industry reputation, accumulated fund scale, and multi-faceted preparations, this attack incident can still be properly resolved. Stay strong, Binance; stay strong, crypto!
