Binance Publishes Zero-Knowledge Proof of Reserves for 10 Tokens After $6.3B Exploit

Binance completed a zero-knowledge reserve audit verifying that user assets across 10 tokens are backed at least 1:1, the exchange announced on Nov. 2 ¹. The snapshot was taken at 00:00 UTC on Oct. 31, two days after hackers drained more than $6.3 billion from its hot wallets ¹. The initial verification covers $BNB, $BTC, $ETH, $RLUSD, $SOL, $USD1, $USDC, $USDT, $XRP, and $ZEC ¹.

To demonstrate solvency without revealing individual customer account balances, the exchange deployed a system combining Merkle trees with zk-SNARK cryptographic proofs ¹. Users can verify their holdings by running Binance's open-source desktop verification tool locally against public GitHub code ¹. Binance stated that the tool has completed an independent security audit ¹. Binance co-CEO Yi He noted that generating the zk-proofs requires between 40 and 50 hours per cycle depending on the volume of assets assessed ¹.

Recovery Efforts and Phased Rollout

The reserve confirmation follows the Oct. 29 security incident where attackers looted hot wallets across multiple blockchains within roughly 20 minutes ¹. The FBI attributes the exploit to the North Korea-backed group TraderTraitor, according to TRM Labs ¹. Investigators, including security analysts from Pangolin Intelligence and Opsek, pointed toward a compromise of internal transaction-signing infrastructure rather than stolen master private keys ¹. External ecosystem partners—including Tether, Circle, and the Arbitrum Security Council—helped freeze roughly $3 billion in stolen funds onchain ¹.

Binance committed more than $6.34 billion from its SAFU emergency fund and corporate reserves to reimburse all affected balances ¹. The exchange said coverage reached 90% by Oct. 31 and 95% by Nov. 1, with the remaining 5% held in less liquid tokens that require longer execution windows to acquire on open markets ¹. After pausing withdrawals immediately following the breach, Binance began a phased resumption on Nov. 1, scheduling the next phase of network reopenings for Nov. 3 and another reserve snapshot on Nov. 4 ¹. At the time of writing, $BTC traded at $76,971, down 1.2% over 24 hours.