Can't withdraw from Binance? What SA users need to know about the hack

South Africans with crypto on Binance can't withdraw it right now. The world's biggest crypto exchange paused withdrawals after a hack that it says hit about $6.5 billion (roughly R104.7 billion) in assets, and South African users report deposits still go through but crypto won't come out (MyBroadband).

Binance says user funds are safe and that it will cover the losses itself (MyBroadband).

Can you withdraw from Binance in South Africa?

Not crypto, for now. MyBroadband confirmed on the Binance app that crypto withdrawals were suspended for all assets, while deposits of both crypto and rand were still working. Rand (fiat) withdrawals appeared active in the app, but it was unclear whether they were actually being processed (MyBroadband).

Source: MyBroadband

When will withdrawals open again?

Binance said it expects to resume withdrawals within 48 hours, according to a Reuters report carried by Cybernews. It described the pause as temporary while security checks are completed (MyBroadband). No exact time has been given, so treat any date you see online that doesn't come from Binance itself as unconfirmed.

Is your money safe?

Binance says yes. It said deposits were unaffected, that it found no evidence any wallet private key was leaked, and that it will cover all losses from its SAFU fund and company money (MyBroadband). SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users) is a reserve held in bitcoin, worth about R16.6 billion in October 2026, set up in 2018 for cases like this (MyBroadband).

Binance's co-founder Yi He also said the exchange would cover "all hacking losses" (Cybernews). Binance says it will publish an updated Proof of Reserves once the clean-up is done (MyBroadband).

What happened?

Binance's early investigation points to a hacked laptop belonging to one of its DevOps engineers. That gave the attacker access to a system that let them submit unauthorised withdrawals (MyBroadband).

US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis say the attackers were from North Korea. TRM said the funds were moved from Binance wallets on 10 blockchains in about 20 minutes, and that the attack matched features of earlier North Korea-linked heists, including the 2025 Bybit hack (Cybernews). Binance said it is working with law enforcement to confirm who was behind it (MyBroadband).

Reports differ slightly on the size. Binance put it at $6.5 billion (MyBroadband), while Reuters reported $6.3 billion (Cybernews). Either way, analysts say it is the biggest crypto hack on record.

How much has been recovered?

Binance says about R49 billion has been frozen on-chain so far (MyBroadband). Reuters reported roughly $3 billion located, with stablecoin issuer Tether freezing about $1.57 billion and Circle more than $800 million (Cybernews).

What did it do to crypto prices?

Bitcoin fell more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368 in Asian trading on Friday, ether dropped more than 3%, and Binance's own BNB token was down 5% over 24 hours (Cybernews). If you hold crypto on any exchange, your rand value has likely dipped today.

What should Binance users in SA do now?

Binance hasn't asked users to do anything. Follow updates only on Binance's official app and website. Big hacks tend to bring out fake "support agents" and fund recovery offers on social media and WhatsApp, so don't share your login details or two-factor codes with anyone who contacts you about the incident.