On November 5, Binance filed a proposal with the Arbitrum DAO asking token‑holders to approve the release of 8,425.997 ETH and 74.56 million ARB that were frozen after a hot‑wallet exploit on the Arbitrum One rollup. The exchange plans to move the assets to a designated recovery address and will cover affected users’ losses from its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and its treasury.

ETH / USD
Source: CoinGecko. Prices are indicative.

Background of the freeze

Arbitrum’s Security Council froze the assets at 8:08 a.m. Hong Kong time on Oct. 30, after detecting transactions that moved the compromised funds into a temporary holding address. The council temporarily upgraded the rollup’s Inbox contract to redirect the assets, then restored the original implementation. According to the council’s disclosure, no other user funds were impacted.

Governance process and timeline

Binance’s request follows Arbitrum’s constitutional governance rules, which require at least 1 million delegated ARB to submit a proposal and a multi‑stage approval sequence. The exchange estimates roughly 49 days for discussion, voting, and execution: one week of forum debate, a week‑long temperature check, a two‑week on‑chain vote, and an additional 18 days for the transaction to be finalized after approval. The proposal does not request a new DAO treasury allocation, and Binance expects only standard governance overhead costs.

Before the on‑chain transaction can be submitted, Binance must sign indemnification agreements with the Arbitrum Foundation, Offchain Labs, and Security Council members. The agreements are governed by New York law, with any disputes to be resolved in New York state or federal courts. The draft also includes provisions that block the transfer if a restraining order or similar legal notice is issued, though Binance will retain the assets in a separate recovery address while any claim is contested.

What to watch next

The next milestones include the start of the forum discussion, the temperature check snapshot, and the on‑chain voting period. Observers will monitor whether the required quorum and majority are reached, as well as any legal challenges that could delay the transfer. Binance has also announced a phased reopening of withdrawals across multiple networks, while it continues to remove SignalPlus‑related API keys after a reported security issue.