Binance's CZ tells Musk to stop trolling amid hack, cites SpaceX shares
In brief
- Changpeng Zhao asked Elon Musk to stop trolling on Oct. 30, during Binance's hack crisis.
- Zhao said "our SPCX shares" are worth over $1 billion; the claim is not independently verified.
- Yi He said annual revenue covers the losses, so no SpaceX sale is needed yet.
- Binance said it reserved over $6 billion. Another $3 billion is frozen, not recovered.
What Zhao told Musk
Musk, posting as @elonmusk, had used a grimacing-face emoji in the exchange before Zhao responded. The reply was short. Posting as @cz_binance, Zhao told Musk it was a bad time to troll, asked him to stop and then asked him to show support.
“Elon, have a lot of respect for you, but bad time to troll. Please stop,” Zhao wrote as @cz_binance
Zhao called the holding "our SPCX shares," tied it to a $500 million investment in Musk's Twitter takeover and said it was worth more than a billion dollars. That's Zhao's account only (CryptoSlate notes the ownership, the valuation and the Twitter link all come from him, and the holding value isn't independently verified accounting).
Replying to Yi He, Zhao later explained that he'd mentioned the shares to show Musk funds he might recognize, so Musk could be less worried.
Yi He says no sale is needed yet
Posting as @heyibinance, Yi He said the company's revenue for the year was enough to cover the losses, so Binance didn't yet need to sell the SpaceX shares. It's her statement, not verified accounting.
The founders' posts didn't announce any SpaceX share sale. Binance separately described company funds and token purchases.
In another post he called "rough math," Zhao weighed the hack losses against frozen assets, the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and the estimated SPCX holding. He described the remaining gap as painful but manageable.
Binance's $6 billion funding update
In a separate Oct. 30 statement, Binance said it had reserved more than $6 billion of company funds to cover the incident. According to @binance, $5 billion of that was already held in the exact token assets affected, and the exchange said it's buying the remainder through market and over-the-counter channels. That process could take longer, Binance said, because some tokens had low liquidity and OTC settlement took time. The purchases are meant to match the affected token assets and cover shortfalls, according to the company.
Binance also reported $3 billion in frozen assets, which it said remain subject to ongoing recovery and verification.
Frozen assets aren't recovered funds.
CryptoSlate's prior breach coverage reported that Binance had found additional breach points and pledged to cover losses through SAFU and corporate resources.
Frequently asked questions
Did Binance sell its SpaceX shares to cover the hack losses?
No sale was announced. Yi He said the company's revenue for the year was enough to cover the losses, so Binance didn't yet need to sell the SpaceX shares. Binance separately described company funds and token purchases.
How is Binance funding the losses from the hack?
Binance said in an Oct. 30 statement that it had reserved more than $6 billion of company funds, with $5 billion already held in the affected token assets. It said it's buying the remainder through market and over-the-counter channels. It also reported $3 billion frozen, though frozen assets aren't recovered funds.
