What can we learn from the Binance hack and recovery?

Binance has begun restoring access after a $6.3 billion theft, drawing on its own reserves to replace customer assets. Its recovery offers lessons about how exchanges approve transactions, communicate during a crisis and demonstrate that customers can get their money back. Summary Binance put the October 29 hot-wallet theft at approximately $6.3 billion. The exchange reported 95% asset replacement before expanding withdrawals on November 3. Binance’s November 2 reserve verification covered 10 cryptocurrencies using an October 31 snapshot. Approximately $3 billion had been frozen by October 30, according to Binance. A further reserve snapshot covering more tokens was scheduled for November 4. Binance has expanded withdrawals after reporting that it had replaced approximately 95% of the assets affected by its $6.3 billion October 29 hack. Binance’s November 3 announcement scheduled another withdrawal phase from 04:00 UTC, with individual assets becoming available after security and readiness checks. Deposits remained open, and the exchange repeated its commitment to absorb the financial loss. Customers have therefore faced two different recovery processes. Binance has been sourcing r...