Binance warns users of fake reward campaigns as withdrawals resume

What happened

Binance cofounder Yi He issued a public security warning on November 1, 2026, telling users to be cautious about fraudulent promotions and phishing links circulating while the exchange brought withdrawals back online. In a post on X, she said a planned community rewards campaign has not yet been cleared by regulators and would go live only after a review is completed and approval is granted. She expected that review to happen once offices reopened the following day.

Yi He also stated that no cash voucher campaign is currently running and urged users to treat any phishing or scam links as a risk. Her post did not identify which regulator is handling the review or give a confirmed launch time for the campaign, Blockonomi reported.

A second warning came from Eowyn Chen, former chief executive of Trust Wallet and Binance's interim chief marketing officer. She said there is no compensation for the withdrawal suspension and directed users to follow only updates published by official Binance accounts. Screenshots circulating online had advertised payments of $150 connected to the pause. X user @williamclay described those images as fabricated and warned that any message pointing users to a "reward hub" or a claim link should be treated as a scam.

Why it matters

The fake offers appeared during a period when users were already anxious about access to their funds, and they borrowed the language of genuine recovery announcements. That overlap makes it harder for holders to tell a proposed promotion apart from a nonexistent compensation scheme, which is why both Yi He and Chen framed their messages as security alerts rather than marketing. Because the promised payments had no official backing, users who followed the links risked exposing credentials or wallets at a moment when attention on Binance was unusually high.

What the data shows

Binance's latest update listed restored access across 15 networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, XRP Ledger, Base, Dogecoin, Optimism, Arbitrum, Tron, Solana, Polygon, Avalanche C-Chain, Zcash, TON and Sui. Specific assets included ETH, USDT and USDC on Ethereum and Optimism; ETH and USDC on Base; ARB, ETH, USDT and USDC on Arbitrum; POL, USDT and USDC on Polygon; AVAX, USDT and USDC on Avalanche C-Chain; USDT and GRAM on TON; and SUI on Sui. The exchange said BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC balances were fully backed, pointed users to its proof-of-reserves page, and noted that deposits stayed open throughout the phased rollout. Binance said it had covered roughly 95% of the affected amount, up from 90% in a prior update, with the remaining 5% held in less liquid tokens that take longer to source through market and over-the-counter purchases. It also cautioned that heavy traffic could slow processing temporarily.

Background

Binance had suspended withdrawals as a precaution after hackers attempted to drain more than $6 billion, an incident described as the largest cyber theft on record and dated to October 29. The exchange said the pause allowed it to contain losses, assess the impact, restore affected services and complete security checks. Withdrawals began returning on Sunday, November 1, and Binance committed to covering losses from the incident using company resources. The U.S. Secret Service said it was continuing to investigate, and Changpeng Zhao thanked investigators and industry partners for acting quickly to track and freeze stolen assets.

What to watch

The next marker is the regulator's decision on the community rewards campaign, which remains unapproved and without a fixed start date. Binance has not named the reviewing authority, so the timing of any launch is still open. Also worth tracking is whether phishing attempts that mimic the recovery messaging continue after withdrawals are fully restored, and when the last 5% of affected holdings, made up of less liquid tokens, is sourced and returned.

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