Binance's Yi He says revenue can cover hack losses without selling SpaceX shares
In brief
- Yi He, Binance co-founder, said annual revenue alone can cover the hack losses, per Crypto Briefing.
- Binance estimated the breach affected approximately $6.3 billion in assets.
- CZ cited roughly $3 billion frozen on-chain and $1 billion or more in SAFU coverage.
- Crypto Briefing calculates a remaining gap of approximately $2 billion.
- CZ named the SpaceX stake, valued at more than $1 billion, as one way to cut the gap.
How the breach happened
The attack reportedly began with a compromised employee laptop, according to Crypto Briefing. That single point of entry let attackers make unauthorized withdrawals from the platform. Crypto Briefing called the entry point "painfully ordinary," and it's hard to argue with that given the size of Binance's own estimate.
The recovery math
Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, Binance's other co-founder, later walked through the recovery math. By his account, roughly $3 billion in assets has been frozen on-chain as part of the cleanup effort. The Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU, Binance's emergency reserve) holds about $1 billion or more to cover user losses tied to the incident.
Subtract both from the $6.3 billion estimate and Crypto Briefing's calculation leaves a gap of approximately $2 billion.
That's where SpaceX comes in.
Zhao pointed to Binance's equity stake in SPCX as one way that remaining gap could be reduced, with the shares valued at more than $1 billion. The stake is linked to Binance's $500 million investment in Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, Crypto Briefing reported. Yi He's message is simpler: Binance won't need to sell those shares, since annual revenue can cover the losses by itself.
So do the shares get sold? Not according to her.
Scrutiny ahead
Between them, the two co-founders have now publicly laid out a recovery plan that runs from frozen funds to SAFU to the SpaceX stake to revenue. Every number in it comes from Binance's side (the $6.3 billion figure remains Binance's own estimate, not an independently confirmed one). Frozen isn't the same as recovered, either.
The balance sheet isn't the only question. Crypto Briefing's assessment is that an incident of this scale is likely to draw regulatory scrutiny. Investigations, it said, could eventually lead to new compliance expectations around securing employee devices and internal access.
Frequently asked questions
How does Binance plan to cover the hack losses?
According to Crypto Briefing, CZ said roughly $3 billion in assets has been frozen on-chain and SAFU holds about $1 billion or more for user losses. Crypto Briefing calculates a remaining gap of about $2 billion. Yi He said Binance's annual revenue alone is enough to cover the losses.
Will Binance have to sell its SpaceX shares?
Yi He indicated Binance wouldn't need to sell its SpaceX shares because revenue can cover the losses. CZ had named the SPCX stake, valued at more than $1 billion, as one way to reduce the remaining gap. The stake is linked to Binance's $500 million investment in Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition.
What is SAFU?
SAFU, the Secure Asset Fund for Users, is Binance's emergency reserve fund. According to CZ, as reported by Crypto Briefing, it holds about $1 billion or more to cover user losses tied to this incident.
