Binance’s CZ Says Banks May Be More Vulnerable To Hacks Than Crypto Exchanges

Days after a $6.3 billion Binance breach, founder Changpeng Zhao said in a CoinDesk interview that banks could be more exposed to cyberattacks than cryptocurrency exchanges as AI strengthens attackers, calling it a broader financial-system threat and urging AI defenses and security collaboration. The October 29, 2026, incident drained internet-connected hot wallets across about ten blockchains in under an hour and is the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. It began with social engineering and poisoned software downloads that compromised a DevOps engineer’s laptop; blockchain firms and the FBI attributed it to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. Binance paused withdrawals, partners froze nearly $3 billion, and the exchange pledged to cover user losses from its reserves and SAFU, a user-protection fund.