Binance says the money is back and the books are opening, yet its biggest proof is still unverifiable and a second security scare just hit. Before BNB holders trust the recovery, they should see what the exchange still refuses to…
The Crypto Desk desk. Editor: Sam Daodu.
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Binance has announced that it recovered about 98% of the funds lost in the estimated $6.3 billion hack in October, according to Immunefi. The exchange has also increased its proof of reserves from 10 tokens to 44. A proof of reserves indicates that an exchange’s wallets hold at least what it owes to customers. We’ve covered how the attack unfolded separately.
Currently, the public cannot verify this new proof of reserves. However, Binance plans to enable a zero-knowledge proof, a cryptographic record that shows reserves can cover customer balances without revealing individual accounts, in about 50 to 60 hours. Withdrawals for additional assets are being reopened gradually, allowing customers to check the figures as they withdraw funds.
BNB (CRYPTO: BNB), Binance’s native token, is used to obtain fee discounts on the exchange. It is currently trading at $705, reflecting a 0.5% increase over the past 24 hours but a 4% decrease over the past week, standing 48.5% below its all-time high of $1,370 from October 13, 2025. This raises the question: Will Binance survive, and what does this recovery mean for BNB holders?
Binance’s 98% Recovery and 44-Token Proof of Reserves
The news primarily concerns the exchange, not its token. Binance operates various markets, including spot, peer-to-peer, margin, futures, and options trading, and relies heavily on trading fees for income. As a privately held company, Binance does not publicly disclose its earnings, making it challenging for outsiders to gauge its revenue sources.
Binance has held licenses from Dubai’s VARA and the Abu Dhabi Global Market since January 5. The company says its SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users), established in 2018, and company funds are covering the October losses, with no impact on users. The following table summarizes the current situation.
A Second Security Concern Strikes Binance
On November 5, Binance removed all API keys tied to the options platform SignalPlus over a reported security concern. The exchange said its own systems were unaffected and user funds remained secure; Deribit, the derivatives exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN | COIN Price Prediction) owns, also revoked those keys. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao told users to take the same precaution everywhere, since the risk lies with third-party tools, not Binance’s own systems.
Separately, Binance and Polymarket requested a one-time hard fork from the Polygon forum to recover approximately 70.49 million Polygon (CRYPTO: POL) tokens, valued at around $6.8 million, from five restricted addresses linked to two previous incidents. Even if approved, this recovery would be a small fraction of the total $6.3 billion stolen. POL is currently trading at $0.0949, up 8.5% this week, with no direct connection to the proposal.
Binance’s Transparency Compared to Coinbase
Binance’s update does not require any users to buy, hold, or use BNB. Furthermore, the exchange has not disclosed which assets funded the replacements, how it divided costs between SAFU and company funds, or whether it sold BNB to raise cash. Without this information, BNB holders cannot tell whether the recovery has attracted new buyers, added selling pressure, or had little impact.
The remaining 2% of hacked assets remains unspecified, and until the proof of reserves is fully verifiable, the 44-token overview remains a company claim. Reports indicate that some coins leaving Binance have already surfaced on other platforms, as shown by the influx of new XRP wallets.
In contrast, Coinbase, Binance’s largest US-listed competitor, highlighted in a November 4 update, aimed at reassuring uneasy Binance users, that it stores over 99% of assets in cold storage, which are offline wallets secure from hackers. Coinbase claims one-for-one asset support and reported having $8.6 billion in cash alongside $377 billion in platform assets as of September 30. The table below summarizes the key metrics.
Despite Coinbase’s security claims, its shares fell 3.0% that day and are down 33.0% for the year.
Will Binance Survive, and What’s Next for BNB Holders?
Binance’s recovery data answers that question. The company claims it has replaced about 98% of the affected assets, covered the losses through SAFU and company funds at no cost to users, and is continuing operations with no plans to close. Withdrawals resumed on November 1, giving users some sense of normalcy.
As the situation evolves, BNB holders and crypto enthusiasts alike will be watching closely to see what happens next.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
