'Our SpaceX shares are worth more than a bn': Binance's CZ responds to Musk's trolling as hack investigation continues

Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder of Binance, has said that he would appreciate some support from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who had been mocking the crypto exchange ever since the news of the massive hack became public.

It all began with Zhao, who also goes by the name CZ, responding to a post on X, which read, "Binance has 144bn of assets under custody, with USDT and USDC frozen the total loss now is around ~1bn, which is only 0.69% of their total assets under custody. They'll cover it from balance sheet easily."

Responding to the post, CZ said, "Loss might be a bit higher than that, but will cover." In response, another X user posted a screenshot of a post by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, in which he assured that the cryptocurrency exchange had enough funds to cover all client holdings, shortly before it imploded.

Quick answers to key questions

The breach had an estimated impact of about $6.3 billion. Binance said around $3 billion of the affected funds had been located or frozen, while the status of the remainder was not yet clear.

Binance described the incident as a complex attack involving a compromised laptop and malicious software. The attackers reportedly manipulated transaction approvals to move funds from an internet-connected hot wallet without normal controls.

Binance said it was working with law enforcement and industry partners to trace and freeze affected assets, and conducting a security review. The exchange also said it would cover the losses and that customer funds remained safe.

Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while it checked and secured its systems. It said it was targeting a resumption of withdrawals within about 34 hours, but services would remain suspended until the platform was considered safe.

Binance co-CEO Yi He said the company did not need to sell its SpaceX shares because its annual revenue was enough to cover losses. CZ said Binance's SpaceX shares were worth more than $1 billion.

Musk responded to the post with a grim emoji, which did not go down well with CZ.

"Elon, have a lot of respect for you, but bad time to troll. Please stop.Our SPCX shares (from our $500m investment in your Twitter takeover) are worth more than a billion. Would appreciate if you show a little support. Thanks!," CZ, who no longer runs the company but remains its largest shareholder, said.

Binance hack

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, suffered a major breach, resulting in the theft of an estimated $6.3 billion from its platform. Binance also suspended all deposits and withdrawals and froze more than $2.5 billion in assets.

Binance also said that about $3 billion in customer funds have been located so far. It did not mention the status of the remaining $3.3 billion, but Binance co-CEO Yi He said in a post on X that $3 billion represented only about 2% of the company's total user assets and public reserves.

Will Binace sell its SpaceX shares?

The exchange also said on Friday (local time) that its technical team was targeting a resumption of withdrawal services within approximately 34 hours. Binance said it is conducting a full security review and plans an initial proof-of-reserves snapshot in 12 hours, with the results expected to be available by Monday.

Yi He also said that Binance does not need to sell its SpaceX shares because its annual revenue is enough to cover losses.

Binance says hack was a 'complex attack'

Binance's other co-CEO, Richard Teng, said in a post on X that the breach was a "complex attack" that was not carried out by one person and included a compromised laptop as well as malicious software designed to delete evidence of its activity as it went along, "making it more difficult for us to trace and investigate."

The hackers were able to manipulate a system used to approve transactions to move money out of a Binance-controlled, internet-connected so-called "hot" wallet in a way that did not pass through normal approval controls, Teng said.