Binance users got the one thing on Monday that no promise can replace. The exchange finished the math that lets holders check the backing for their own coins, and it did so on the same day North Korea publicly denied the theft that started all of this. One side brought receipts anyone can test. The other side brought a denial no one can test. Your job is to know exactly what those receipts prove, what they leave out, and what to check before you trust any exchange with money you cannot afford to lose.
Binance proof of reserves is now open to check
On Monday, November 2, Binance published its fifth recovery update and said the full zero knowledge proof for its latest proof of reserves snapshot is complete. The snapshot was taken at 00:00 UTC on October 31, and Binance said the proof was finished within the timeframe it had estimated. Holders of ten tokens can now confirm that their balances are backed at least 1:1. The ten tokens are BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC.
Figures reported from the snapshot show Bitcoin covered at 100.04 percent, BNB at 101.30 percent, USDC at 106.08 percent and XRP at 100.99 percent, with Ether and USDT at 100 percent. Co CEO Richard Teng wrote that users now have another way to independently check that their assets are backed, and he added that work remains. Both halves of that sentence matter. The proof is a real step, and it is still only one step. Our Crypto Hub tracks the full run of this story and the wider market around it.
How to run the check yourself
Binance says the check works like this. Log in through the official website only. Open the Proof of Reserves page and download the verifier tool to your own computer. Run the tool on your own device, so the check happens in your hands and not on the word of the exchange. The verifier is open source, published on GitHub, and Binance says it has been independently audited.
Two tools do the work under the surface. A Merkle tree lets you confirm that your own balance was counted inside the snapshot totals. A zk SNARK proof then shows that reserves cover user balances at least 1:1 without showing any single balance in public. In plain terms, you can confirm two things at once. Your coins were counted, and the total pile was at least as large as the total owed at that moment. The snapshot itself first arrived in the Binance hack update we published on October 31, and this proof is the part that update said would take time to build.
What the proof shows and what it cannot show
Here is the lesson inside the news, and it is one every saver should keep. A proof of reserves is a photograph, not a film. It covers one moment, in this case October 31 at 00:00 UTC. That moment came before the Sunday rush, when Binance processed about $4.6 billion in withdrawals against $1 billion in deposits in the first 9.5 hours, as we covered in our report on Binance withdrawals. By Monday, reports put total processed withdrawals near $7.4 billion with about $2.7 billion flowed back in, for net outflows near $4.72 billion, roughly 3 percent of platform assets.
The proof also covers ten tokens only. Binance says about 95 percent of the stolen amount is now covered, and the last 5 percent sits in less liquid tokens outside the top ten that take longer to buy at scale. The exchange says it is working with partners to finish those purchases and that it will absorb the loss, not users. A reserve proof cannot list every debt a company owes, and it cannot promise that money will move fast on a hard day. Treat it as strong evidence about ten tokens at one moment, not as a clean bill of health for a whole company.
North Korea denies the hack as the proof lands
The second development landed on Monday evening in the United States. In a statement carried by state news agency KCNA and reported by Reuters, Kim Yo Jong said the FBI is trying to brand the DPRK as a “cyber criminal state” and called the United States assertion “absurd rhetoric and nothing new” and a “grave political provocation.” The FBI did not respond at once to a request for comment, according to reporting by The Block.
Our earlier report on the Binance hack North Korea confirmation set out the FBI case, which names the activity TraderTraitor and says stolen funds were being converted mainly into Ether. Blockchain research firms, including TRM Labs, have pointed the same way as the FBI. A denial changes the politics around this theft. It does not change the math inside the proof, and it does not return a single coin to a single user.
What happens next and what to do this week
Binance plans the next phase of withdrawals for additional networks and assets on Tuesday, November 3, as a gradual rollout. It also plans a new snapshot covering more tokens on Wednesday, November 4, and a fresh proof that will take about 40 to 50 hours to build. Watch both dates. If your token sits outside the top ten, the November 4 snapshot is the one that speaks to you.
Do these four things this week. First, run the verifier if you hold any of the ten tokens, and save a copy of your result with the date on it. Second, move long term holdings to a wallet you control, in stages you can check, and keep only what you trade with on any exchange. Third, use only the official website for any download, and never enter your login on a page that a message or a post sent you. Fourth, if your token is outside the ten, put the November 3 rollout and the November 4 snapshot on your calendar and check again after the next proof lands.
Trust is not a logo and it is not a promise. Trust is a check you can run yourself, repeated on a schedule you can see.
For a wider plan that covers saving, debt and investing beyond any single account, download the free ebook Unlocked Vol 2: The Financial Freedom Playbook. It gives you the simple money system behind this site in one short read. Start it tonight and put the first step on your calendar this week.
