CZ Asks Musk to Stop Trolling Binance After $6.4 Billion Hack
CZ asks Musk to stop mocking Binance after record hack
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, asked Elon Musk to stop trolling the exchange after a $6.4 billion cryptocurrency hack. CZ made the request on X on October 30, 2026, one day after the theft was reported.
The hack is the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. At least $6.4 billion was taken from wallets linked to Binance on Thursday, October 29, across multiple blockchains.
Musk had replied to a discussion about the hack with a grimacing emoji. Another user compared the situation to the collapse of FTX, though Musk did not explain what he meant.
Key figures from the dispute
- CZ asked Elon Musk to stop trolling Binance after the exchange suffered the hack.
- CZ said Binance holds SpaceX shares worth more than $1 billion.
- Binance co-CEO Yi He said yearly revenue is enough to cover losses without selling those shares.
- CZ later clarified he never suggested selling the shares.
- Binance reserved more than $6.34 billion in company funds for the incident.
What Binance leaders said
CZ wrote on X that he respects Musk but asked him to stop trolling. He noted that Binance's SpaceX shares, from a $500 million investment tied to Musk's Twitter takeover, are worth more than $1 billion.
Yi He responded to CZ, saying Binance's annual revenue can cover the losses, so the company does not need to sell the SpaceX shares.
CZ then clarified that he was not suggesting a sale. He said he only wanted to show Musk some of Binance's available funds to reassure him.
Blockchain firms link attack to North Korea
In a report on Friday, TRM Labs and Chainalysis said the attack was carried out by TraderTraitor. The group is also linked to a $1.5 billion hack of Bybit in February 2025. Chainalysis estimated the Binance theft at about $6.4 billion.
Confirmed facts about the hack
- At least $6.4 billion in cryptocurrency left Binance-linked wallets on October 29, 2026.
- Initial reports showed at least $5.57 billion had moved from those wallets across Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Tron.
- Attackers sent more than $1.6 billion in USDT to a newly created Ethereum address.
- Tether and Circle froze a total of $2.39 billion in assets tied to the attackers.
- Attackers used Uniswap and Aave to move funds into Ethereum. Decrypt tracked wallets receiving 19,762 ETH borrowed against about $60 million in USDT.
Unanswered questions
- Loss estimates vary between $6.3 billion and $6.4 billion, and the exact total is not settled.
- The time needed to buy remaining assets is unclear, especially for tokens with limited liquidity.
Why this matters for crypto security
The incident shows a weakness in cryptocurrency recovery. Tether and Circle are the companies behind the USDT and USDC stablecoins, and they can freeze stolen funds. Ethereum cannot be frozen by a central issuer, making it harder to stop stolen funds once they are converted. Attackers used decentralized exchanges and lending protocols to move funds. A decentralized exchange lets people trade cryptocurrency without a company approving each transaction. A lending protocol lets users borrow or lend cryptocurrency without a bank.
Binance's plan to cover losses
Binance said it already holds $5 billion in the same tokens that were stolen. It is acquiring the rest through market and over-the-counter purchases, which can take longer when certain tokens have limited liquidity.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.