Why Didn’t Bitcoin Crash Harder After the Binance Hack? CZ Weighs In

Binance said about $6.3 billion in crypto was stolen from compromised hot wallets in a Friday morning hack, while bitcoin fell from over $80,000 to $76,100 within hours. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the reaction was limited partly because the theft was smaller relative to bitcoin supply than Mt. Gox’s roughly 650,000 BTC, which he said exceeded 5% of supply at the time, and because Binance absorbed the loss rather than passing it to users. Binance said about $3 billion was frozen on-chain by it and partners, and pledged to cover all losses through its SAFU fund and corporate treasury, protecting user balances; it said it set aside more than $6.3 billion, including $5 billion in affected assets covering about 80% of losses.