Binance TR, the Turkish arm of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, has temporarily suspended crypto asset withdrawals for users in Türkiye as a precaution, while trading and Turkish lira transactions continue, the company said in a statement carried by Anadolu Agency (AA) and the financial news site Paratic.
According to the statement, which Binance TR shared on its X account, only withdrawals of crypto assets have been halted. Buying and selling, Turkish lira deposits and withdrawals, and crypto deposits are working normally, the company said, adding that all user assets on the platform are safe.
Binance TR did not say how long the suspension would last. It said its teams were working on the necessary steps, that users would be kept informed through official channels, and asked them not to rely on information from other sources. Paratic reported on Friday afternoon that withdrawals remained disabled pending a new announcement.
Neither AA nor Paratic carried any comment from Turkish regulators, and the Binance TR statement did not give a specific reason for the measure.
Global Binance security incident
The step follows a security incident at the global Binance exchange overnight from Thursday to Friday. Binance put the total impact at about $6.3 billion, Euronews and the crypto news site Kriptofoni reported, and about $3 billion in assets was frozen with the help of partners in the blockchain ecosystem, according to the same reports.
Binance said an initial review indicated that a laptop belonging to one of its DevOps engineers may have been compromised and used to carry out unauthorised withdrawals, Euronews, Kriptofoni and Paratic reported. The company said it had found no evidence that wallet private keys had been leaked.
Losses to be covered, withdrawals expected within two days
Binance has said it will cover user losses, using its SAFU emergency fund and company resources, according to Kriptofoni and Paratic; Euronews reported that the exchange had set aside $6.34 billion for the incident.
Binance has suspended deposits and withdrawals on its global platform and expects to restart withdrawals within roughly 45 to 48 hours, Euronews and Kriptofoni reported, citing company statements. Kriptofoni noted that this was a target rather than a firm date and that withdrawals would return gradually after security checks.
For users in Türkiye, this means crypto held on Binance TR can still be traded and sold for lira, and lira can be withdrawn to bank accounts, but coins cannot currently be moved off the platform.
Sources
- Binance TR’den kritik karar: Kripto varlık çekimleri bir süreliğine askıya alındı (AA via Son Dakika)
- Binance TR’de kripto para çekimleri durduruldu: Kullanıcı varlıkları güvende mi? (Paratic)
- Binance’e yönelik siber saldırı: Nasıl gerçekleşti, arkasında kim var (Euronews Türkçe)
- Binance Para Çekme İşlemlerini Durdurdu: 48 Saatlik Süre Açıklandı (Kriptofoni)
Photo: Satheesh Sankaran / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
