Binance: its proof of reserves covers ten cryptos at least 1:1
On Monday, 2 November, Binance published the proof of reserves for its 31 October snapshot. It covers ten assets (BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, ZEC), all backed at least 1:1, with bitcoin at 100.04%, USDT at 100% and BNB at 101.3%. As of 1 October, it covered 55 assets and backed USDT at 103.88%. A broader snapshot will follow on Wednesday, 4 November.
To replace 95% of the stolen assets, Binance took 7,499 BTC out of the SAFU fund, about $580 million. This $1 billion fund now holds only half that amount, and its charter has nothing on refilling it after a hack.
On Arbitrum, the Security Council took back 8,426 ETH and 74.6 million ARB, about $30 million, from the hacker's address as early as 30 October. These funds are waiting for a DAO vote. Binance withdrawals are expanding to more networks starting Tuesday, and every customer can check their balance in the proof of reserves section of the app.
Binance proves it really holds your crypto, at least for ten of them
Still in the aftermath of the hack, Binance published its proof of reserves on Monday, 2 November (a check that shows it really holds its customers' crypto). For ten cryptos, including bitcoin, ether, USDT and USDC, every coin deposited is covered at least once, and others will be checked starting Wednesday. To make up for the $6.3 billion theft, however, the platform has already used up half of its emergency fund (a reserve set aside for this kind of blow), that is 7,499 bitcoins or about $580 million. The same amount is left, and no date has been set to fill it back up. Finally, on Arbitrum (a network that runs apps on top of Ethereum), a council of twelve people took about $30 million back from the hackers, without even having their key.
If you have crypto on Binance, it is indeed there, and you can check your own balance in the app, under proof of reserves. Withdrawals are also opening up to more networks starting this Tuesday.
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Binance: the 31 October proof of reserves covers 692,187 BTC at 100.04%
Since 2 November, the ZK proof and the Merkle tree for the 31 October snapshot, limited to 10 assets instead of 55, cover 692,187 customer BTC at 100.04%, 29.48 billion USDT at 100% (103.88% on 1 October) and 42.6 million BNB at 101.3%. The 4 November snapshot will be proven 40 to 50 hours later.
On 31 October, the SAFU transferred out 7,499 BTC (about $580 million) of its 15,000. On Arbitrum, on 30 October, the Security Council (9 of 12) replaced the Inbox contract, for one Ethereum transaction, with a version that issues messages in the hacker's name. Two unsigned 0x65 transactions sent 8,425.998 ETH and 74,559,805 ARB to a 0DA0 address, then the old code was put back, as happened in April at KelpDAO (30,766 ETH).
The Arbitrum DAO will vote on these funds, and there is no timeline for refilling the SAFU. On an L2, holding the private key does not protect you from the upgrade path. For French tax purposes, a verified balance is still a deposit, not a disposal.
