Binance says losses are covered as Musk mocks hack on X

Hack size and Binance’s response

BeInCrypto reports that Binance said it faced a shortfall of about $2 billion after what the article calls the largest crypto theft ever. The exchange said it would cover the losses from its own funds. The article says withdrawals have remained paused since the attack, and that about $3 billion of the stolen amount was frozen.

Who was blamed and when it happened

According to BeInCrypto, the theft was carried out by hackers linked to North Korea and involved about $6.3 billion taken from Binance on October 29. The report says Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange. It also says the company expects withdrawals to restart within 48 hours, after which it plans to publish another public count of its reserves.

CZ’s breakdown of the missing funds

BeInCrypto reports that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, explained the math behind the shortfall after a user asked why he kept referring to SpaceX. CZ said the gap came from the size of the hack, the amount frozen, and Binance’s emergency fund, which he called SAFU. He said the remaining gap was “still painful, but” manageable. The report says SAFU holds about $1.17 billion in Bitcoin.

SpaceX-related holdings and uncertainty

The article says Binance’s shares began as a $500 million investment tied to Musk’s 2022 Twitter takeover. It says xAI later absorbed X, and SpaceX bought xAI in February. BeInCrypto reports that SpaceX listed on Nasdaq in June at $135 per share. The article says early investors are subject to lockup rules that release shares in stages, with the last general unlock on December 8, while some major investors remain locked until 2027. It says Binance has not said which group it belongs to. The report also says SPCX fell almost 10% in the week to October 28, when about 1.6 billion newly unlocked shares became sellable.

Musk’s posts and Binance’s reply

BeInCrypto says Musk posted “Everyday is Zeroday” as the hack was unfolding, then reacted with fire and laughing emojis to CZ’s warning about email links. CZ then responded that it was a bad time to troll and asked Musk to stop, saying Binance’s SPCX shares were worth more than $1 billion. Binance co-CEO Yi He also rejected the idea that the company needed to sell, saying revenue for the year was enough to cover the losses. The article adds that critics drew a comparison to Sam Bankman-Fried, who said in 2022 that FTX could cover all client funds before FTX collapsed days later. BeInCrypto says liquidations topped $628 million in one hour as the news spread.