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The cryptocurrency exchange Binance has allocated over $6.34 billion from its own funds to fully compensate for possible losses incurred by users following the digital asset transfer incident. According to Podrobno.uz, the exchange's representatives have already begun the process of returning affected assets and are actively cooperating with law enforcement agencies and partners.

According to Binance itself, $5 billion of the total reserved amount is already held in the same tokens that were affected by the incident. The exchange plans to acquire the remaining portion of the assets on the open market and through over-the-counter (OTC) transactions to eliminate any potential deficit for each affected token.

The company warned that due to liquidity constraints of some cryptocurrencies and the timelines for OTC operations, the compensation process may take some time. Binance commits to informing the public about the progress as verified information becomes available.

It is important to note that the $6.34 billion amount does not include assets that were frozen as part of the ongoing investigation. It was previously reported that with the support of crypto industry partners, Binance managed to freeze approximately three billion dollars, and the company continues to interact with regulators and market participants to recover these funds.

Binance emphasized its readiness to cover any confirmed deficits using its own resources. In the future, the safety of client funds will be publicly confirmed through the Proof of Reserves mechanism—the exchange's reserve confirmation.

Prior to the incident, Binance had reported an investigation into a possible hacking attack that followed large transfers of digital assets from wallets associated with the exchange. Preliminary estimates suggested that the total volume of these transactions amounted to $5.8 billion; however, this referred to transferred assets, not a confirmed sum of theft.

The founder of the exchange, Changpeng Zhao, suggested that the situation resembled a hacking attack but assured users of the safety of their funds. He also expressed gratitude to Tether and Circle for their assistance in freezing stablecoins related to the event.

The World Bank has approved a loan of $100 million to carry out the modernization of Uzbekistan's power grids. These funds will be used to update and digitize 60 substations across the country.

This project aims to reduce energy losses, increase the stability of electricity supply, and enable the connection of new renewable energy facilities, such as solar and wind farms. Furthermore, the implementation of the project is expected to create approximately 11,700 new jobs.

By 2031, the modernized substations are expected to allow for an annual reduction in electricity losses by 20,000 megawatt-hours. Moreover, the power grid will gain the capacity to accept at least 3.3 gigawatts of power from renewable sources. It is projected that this project will lead to an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of nearly 23,000 tons.

The total cost of the entire program is $371 million. In addition to the World Bank's contribution, the Asian Development Bank will provide another $200 million, having approved the project financing in September. An additional $71 million will be allocated by the Government of Uzbekistan from the state budget.

The need to update the infrastructure is driven by increasing electricity consumption. A significant portion of the distribution networks was built many decades ago, and many substations operate under overload. This causes energy losses and outages that affect not only residential and commercial buildings but also social institutions, including hospitals and schools.

Infrastructure modernization is critically important for Uzbekistan to achieve its goal of increasing renewable energy capacity to 25 gigawatts by 2030. To do this, the country requires a power grid capable of efficiently receiving energy from wind and solar installations and reliably delivering it to end consumers.

AO 'National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan' is responsible for implementing the program. In addition to updating the infrastructure itself, the project includes digitizing processes at substations, strengthening cybersecurity measures, and improving the financial management system. An increase in the proportion of female employment in the energy sector and improved compliance with environmental and social standards are also planned.

The World Bank emphasizes that stable power supply is a fundamental condition for the life of the population, the functioning of businesses, and ensuring sustainable economic growth of the state. Specifically, ten substations in Tashkent are planned for modernization to increase their throughput capacity and stabilize electricity supply. After replacing power transformers, the total additional capacity will amount to 333.2 megavolt-amperes.