Binance May Use Stake in SpaceX to Cover Losses from Hacker Attack

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pointed to a SpaceX stock package worth over $1 billion as proof of the exchange's ability to cover losses from the October 29 hack, estimated at $6.3 billion, of which about $3 billion is already frozen. Binance stated that it will cover all losses from SAFU and its own funds, and user funds remain safe.

The discussion was prompted by a post from a user on X, who calculated that Binance could easily cover the remaining balance. Zhao responded that the loss "might be a bit more, but we will manage." Then another user posted an old screenshot of former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried claiming that FTX had enough assets for all clients, and Musk responded with a skeptical emoji captioned "Every day is Zeroday." Zhao addressed Musk directly: "Elon, I have great respect for you, but now is not the time for trolling. Please stop. Our SPCX shares (from our $500 million investment in your Twitter acquisition) are worth over a billion. I would appreciate a little support."

Zhao's Calculation

Later, Zhao provided "rough math": damage around $6.x billion, approximately $3 billion frozen, another $1.x billion in SAFU. The gap is about $2 billion, and over $1 billion is accounted for by SPCX. "The remaining gap is painful but manageable," he wrote. Zhao emphasized that he was not talking about plans to sell SPCX: he was merely showing the funds to make Musk "worry less."

Context

According to a second source, Binance's direct ownership of SpaceX shares is not independently confirmed, and the exposure is related to the investment in X. The valuation of over $1 billion is Zhao's words, not money in the bank until the shares are sold. Previously, in 2026, Binance had already canceled tokenized IPO campaigns for SpaceX, not acquiring enough shares: investors were refunded about $557 million and distributed an SPCXB airdrop worth $1 million. The $6.3 billion hack is considered the largest in cryptocurrency history, surpassing the Bybit exploit by about $1.5 billion in 2025.