Binance's SAFU emergency fund is down to about 7,500 bitcoin, half what it held in February, after the exchange tapped it to help cover the theft

Binance's SAFU emergency fund now holds about half the bitcoin it did earlier this year. The address Binance publishes for its Secure Asset Fund for Users showed a confirmed balance of about 7,500 BTC on Tuesday, according to mempool.space, after four transactions on October 31. That was the day Binance said it would make a partial SAFU deployment toward the $6.34 billion it set aside to cover the October 29 theft, CoinDesk reported.

The fund held 15,000 BTC in February, when Binance finished converting about $1 billion of stablecoins into bitcoin, The Block reported at the time. At about $77,000 a coin, the remaining bitcoin is worth about $580 million, CoinDesk calculates.

When it made the switch, Binance said it would rebalance the fund back to $1 billion if its value fell below $800 million because of bitcoin price fluctuations. CoinDesk notes that the rule covers price falls, not spending, so it does not by itself trigger a refill now. Binance has pledged to restore SAFU to about $1 billion but has not said when. The rest of the money came from Binance's corporate treasury and part of its futures insurance fund, and Binance has not said how much of the insurance fund it used, according to CoinDesk.