Binance Has Shed $16.6 Billion Since the Hack — and Its Proof of Reserves Is Now Due Tuesday
The proof is late, and the assets are still leaving
Binance's customers have now withdrawn a net $4.72 billion since the exchange reopened withdrawals on November 1 after the $6.3 billion hack — but the more telling number is the one that tracks what is left. Analytics platform DefiLlama shows Binance's tracked assets falling from about $144.9 billion on October 29 to roughly $128.3 billion early on November 2, a drop of more than $16.5 billion, or nearly 12%. The exchange itself reported processing $4.649 billion in withdrawals against $1.01 billion in deposits in the first hours of reopening, and said the initial rush was easing, with $2.7 billion in incoming funds reported in its November 2 update. At the same time, the proof that was supposed to settle the question — Binance's full zero-knowledge proof of reserves — slipped. Co-chief executive Richard Teng had said it would arrive by November 2; the exchange's third recovery update pushed it to Tuesday, November 3 (UTC), saying the full proof takes roughly 40 to 50 hours of computation to generate. A delayed audit is not a failed audit, but in the week of the largest hack in crypto history, timing is itself a signal, and the market is reading it as one.
Where the money actually went
The most surprising detail in the outflow data is where the money did not go. Onchain tracker Whale Factor suggested most withdrawn funds did not move to rival exchanges: Binance lost about $4.5 billion over 24 hours, while the next ten exchanges together absorbed only roughly $368 million. OKX took most of that, while Coinbase gained 984 BTC and Kraken gained 1,422 BTC. In other words, about nine of every ten dollars leaving Binance went to private wallets or other destinations, not to a competitor. That cuts two ways. It weakens the "bank run to a rival" story — customers are not obviously fleeing to another exchange they trust more. But it also means the funds are harder to track and the industry gains little clarity about where risk now sits. Reuters reported a similar pattern: OKX recorded $284.87 million in inflows in 24 hours, followed by Gate with $93.22 million and Bybit with $29.25 million — real inflows, but small next to the outflows. Binance said net outflows amounted to around 3% of assets on its platform, a figure analysts described as modest, suggesting customer confidence had largely held. Both readings can be true at once: a 3% outflow is survivable, and a $16.6 billion asset decline is still the largest stress test this exchange has ever faced.
What Tuesday's proof must show — and what it cannot
A proof of reserves shows that an exchange holds assets matching customer balances at a point in time; a zero-knowledge version is designed to prove that without exposing individual balances. What it cannot show is whether those assets are encumbered, how the exchange's own funds are separated from customer funds, or what happens under a second shock. That is why the proof matters and also why it will not end the argument. Phase one of withdrawals reopened only 15 networks and 15 assets, including BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, BNB, SOL, XRP and DOGE — critics noted hundreds of tokens remained locked — and Binance only resumed United States dollar cash withdrawals on Monday. Meanwhile, the human side of the story continues: the FBI has attributed the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group, TRM Labs says North Korea-linked hackers have stolen $7.4 billion so far in 2026, and about half the stolen funds were in stablecoins, with Circle saying it froze more than $1.1 billion. For traders, the checklist for the week is simple: watch Tuesday's proof for completeness and for any auditor or methodology detail, watch whether the withdrawal pace keeps easing or re-accelerates, and watch whether funds parked in private wallets start moving back onto any exchange at all. Until then, the honest summary is that Binance survived the first weekend of its worst crisis, that its customers mostly chose self-custody over a rival, and that the document meant to prove its solvency is a day late.
FAQ
How much has Binance shed since the hack? DefiLlama tracked assets fell from about $144.9 billion on October 29 to roughly $128.3 billion early on November 2 — over $16.5 billion, or nearly 12%.
How much have customers withdrawn net? $4.72 billion net since withdrawals resumed on November 1, per Binance's November 2 update.
When is the proof of reserves due? By Tuesday, November 3 (UTC), after a delay from the original November 2 target; Binance says the full zero-knowledge proof takes 40 to 50 hours to compute.
Where did withdrawn funds go? Mostly to private wallets or other destinations, not rival exchanges — the next ten exchanges together absorbed only about $368 million in one 24-hour window.
Are all withdrawals open again? No — phase one reopened 15 networks and 15 assets; hundreds of tokens remained locked, and US dollar cash withdrawals resumed only on Monday.
Does a proof of reserves prove an exchange is safe? It proves assets match balances at a point in time; it does not prove those assets are unencumbered or how customer and company funds are separated.
Read more on Zimbuck: https://zimbuck.com/pages/zimbucknews and join the discussion at https://zimbuck.com/groups/zimbuckmarketnews . Related reading on the site: Crypto Exchange Volumes Fell for a Third Straight Quarter — While Tokenized Stocks Quietly Took Off, https://zimbuck.com/blogs/852/Crypto-Exchange-Volumes-Fell-for-a-Third-Straight-Quarter-While and Banks Go On-Chain in a Single Week: SoFi's Tokenized Deposit, Ripple's OCC Charter and the First Blockchain-Native Index Fund, https://zimbuck.com/blogs/867/Banks-Go-On-Chain-in-a-Single-Week-SoFi-s . Source for this story: Bitcoin.com, Binance Has Shed $16B Since The Hack as Its Proof Lands Tuesday, https://news.bitcoin.com/exchanges/binance-sheds-15-7b-proof-of-reserves-tuesday/ . Join Zimbuck at https://zimbuck.com to follow more exchange coverage.
This article is market news and general information only, not financial advice.
