Elon Musk has drawn criticism from Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao after the Tesla making sarcastic comments about the cryptocurrency exchange's $6.3 billion hack. Musk reacted to the incident with laughing and grimacing emojis on X, prompting Zhao to ask the billionaire to stop mocking the company and show some support.
The exchange between the two took place on Friday, October 30, after Binance suffered what has been described as the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. Around $3 billion in stolen crypto assets have been frozen so far, while Binance has promised to cover the confirmed losses.
Elon Musk reacts to Binance hack
The exchange began after Zhao shared a security warning on October 28, a day before the Binance attack was disclosed. He advised people against opening links or downloading attachments from emails, even when they appeared to come from someone they trusted.
Deep Dive
Why did CZ ask Elon Musk to stop mocking the Binance hack?
What caused the $6.3 billion Binance security breach?
How does Binance plan to cover losses from the hack?
Musk responded to the warning with fire and laughing emojis. After reports of the hack emerged, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO also posted, "Everyday is Zeroday" on X.
He later shared a grimacing emoji during a discussion about Binance's ability to cover the losses.
{{/usCountry}}He later shared a grimacing emoji during a discussion about Binance's ability to cover the losses.
{{/usCountry}}Zhao responded to the resurfaced security warning by saying he wished more people had followed his advice. However, he pointed out that the attack was more complicated than simply clicking a suspicious link.
"The hack is more complex than that, but all hacks generally have a compromised device (or algorithm) at some point," Zhao wrote.
Binance's initial investigation reportedly pointed to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. Investigators are also examining other possible security breaches.
Also Read: Binance says $6.3 billion crypto heist was a complex attack, and not just 1 compromised laptop
Changpeng Zhao reminds Elon Musk of Binance's $500 million Twitter investment
Zhao directly addressed Musk on Friday, asking him to stop making jokes about the attack.
"Elon, have a lot of respect for you, but bad time to troll. Please stop," he wrote.
He also reminded Musk of Binance's earlier investment in his Twitter takeover, saying the exchange's SpaceX shares were now worth more than $1 billion.
"Our SPCX shares (from our $500m investment in your Twitter takeover) are worth more than a billion," Zhao added. Would appreciate if you show a little support. Thanks!"
Binance invested $500 million in Musk's $44 billion Twitter acquisition in 2022. The investment later became linked to SpaceX shares following the companies' corporate changes.
Also Read: Binance confirms crypto heist, biggest in history, but no one’s sure what broke
Binance co-CEO Yi He says company does not need to sell SpaceX shares
The discussion also raised questions about how Binance plans to cover the money lost in the attack.
Zhao shared a rough calculation, pointing to approximately $3 billion in frozen assets and more than $1 billion in Binance's Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). He estimated the remaining gap at around $2 billion.
However, Binance co-CEO Yi He said the company could cover the losses through its annual revenue without selling its SpaceX shares.
"Reporting to the major shareholder: Our company’s revenue for the year is sufficient to cover the losses, so we do not yet need to sell the SpaceX shares you are bullish on," she wrote.
Zhao later clarified that he had not suggested selling the shares.