Polymarket · Circle · Ethereum · Tether · CoinDesk
Binance hack drained wallets backing customer assets, reserve data indicates
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The Binance wallets emptied in Thursday’s hack are the same wallets the exchange lists as proof that customers’ crypto is fully backed, according to a CoinDesk review of Binance’s own reserve data.
Key facts
- The roughly 204,500 ETH taken represents approximately 5.6% of Binance’s ETH reserves, leaving Binance’s ETH backing near 94%
- Stablecoin issuers have frozen much of the haul, with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino saying more than 1.567 billion USDT was frozen, while Zhao said Circle’s USDC freeze was around $823 million
- At the time of the report, it held 1.26 billion USDT and 89,475 ETH, among 37 assets
- Etherscan shows 167,464 ETH moving from Binance 14 at 20:24 UTC, or 4:24 pm ET, followed by 28,005.6 ETH from Binance 16, both into the attacker’s wallet
Summary
Binance 14, the hot wallet at the centre of Thursday’s suspected hack, appears in Binance’s 1 October proof of reserves, meaning the stolen crypto was part of the assets backing customer balances. Binance held exactly enough ETH to cover customers on 1 October, so the roughly 204,500 ETH taken would leave ether backing near 94%, with USDC and several altcoins also likely below 100%. Tether, Circle, Ripple and World Liberty Financial have frozen much of the stolen stablecoins, and Binance says user funds are safe. That means that Binance’s 1:1 backing of some assets, ether in particular, has likely fallen below 100% until the exchange replaces what was taken.