Binance CEO CZ urges Elon Musk to respect SpaceX stake after $6.4 billion hack

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, posted on X on Friday urging Elon Musk to refrain from mocking the exchange after a $6.4 billion hack, the largest in cryptocurrency history. CZ noted that Binance’s $500 million investment in Musk’s Twitter takeover has grown to more than $1 billion in SpaceX shares and asked for “a little support.”

Musk responded to a discussion about the hack with a grimacing emoji, which prompted a user to share an old post from former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried claiming his exchange could cover its losses. CZ later clarified that he had not suggested selling the SpaceX shares, but was simply highlighting Binance’s financial resources.

Binance co-CEO Yi He also addressed the issue, stating that the company’s revenue is sufficient to cover the losses and that there is no immediate need to liquidate the SpaceX holdings.

The theft, reported on October 29, involved at least $6.4 billion taken from wallets linked to Binance across multiple blockchains. Initial reports indicated $5.57 billion moved out of Binance-associated wallets, including a $1.6 billion USDT transfer to a newly created Ethereum address. Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle froze $2.39 billion of assets tied to the attackers, while Ethereum funds could not be frozen.

Attackers used decentralized platforms such as Uniswap and Aave to move and borrow funds, including 19,762 ETH borrowed against roughly $60 million in USDT. Blockchain analytics firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis linked the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group previously associated with the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025.

Binance said it has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover the incident, including $5 billion held in the same tokens that were stolen, and is acquiring remaining assets through market and over-the-counter purchases.