Binance Founder CZ Tells Elon Musk ‘Bad Time to Troll’ as Hack Draws FTX Comparison

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao on Friday told Elon Musk to stop trolling after Musk reacted with laughing emojis to concerns Binance’s hack losses could mirror FTX’s 2022 collapse.

Why CZ Pushed Back at Musk

Musk posted "Everyday is Zeroday" as news of the hack broke, then dropped fire and laughing emojis under a warning from Zhao about clicking suspicious email links. 

Zhao responded directly on X: "Elon, have a lot of respect for you, but bad time to troll. Please stop. Our SPCX (NASDAQ:SPCX) shares (from our $500m investment in your Twitter takeover) are worth more than a billion. Would appreciate if you show a little support. Thanks!"

The tension escalated after another user posted an old quote from Sam Bankman-Fried claiming FTX could cover all client holdings just days before the exchange collapsed in 2022.

Zhao hasn’t said Binance will sell its SpaceX shares, and co-CEO Yi He confirmed the company doesn’t need to, citing enough annual revenue to cover the losses on its own.

What Zhao Has Actually Confirmed About Losses

Analyst 0xngmi estimated losses around $1 billion after stablecoin freezes, comparing that figure against Binance’s claimed $144 billion in assets under custody and arguing the company could easily absorb it from its balance sheet. 

Zhao replied: "Loss might be a bit higher than that, but will cover." That response didn’t confirm the $1 billion estimate specifically, leaving the final loss figure still unresolved.

Binance said on X that the estimated total impact reaches roughly $6.3 billion, more than four times the losses from the 2025 Bybit hack, which previously held the record for the largest crypto theft. 

The company said around $3 billion in assets have already been frozen, and it’s coordinating with law enforcement, Tether, Circle and industry partners to trace and freeze additional funds.

Binance confirmed it will "cover all losses" so users don’t bear any financial impact.

Why Francois Says This Won’t Trigger Contagion

The FTX comparison raises legitimate questions about whether Binance can substantiate its promises, though it provides no direct evidence Binance faces the same underlying financial problems that sank FTX.

Widely-followed crypto trader Quinten Francois posted on X that the market is only down 2% to 3% despite the biggest crypto hack in history because there’s no domino effect at play. 

Unlike FTX, he argued, this won’t trigger a chain reaction of bankruptcies and losses across the industry, since the money was stolen from the player with the deepest pockets in the industry.

Meanwhile, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong separately offered support on X, saying his team is blocking sends to compromised wallets and has reached out to Binance directly.

"Moments like this call for the industry to work together," Armstrong said.

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