Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao pointed to the exchange’s SpaceX stake while asking Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX’s chief executive, to support Binance after a $6.3 billion hack, CNBC reported Friday.
CNBC said about $3 billion in cryptocurrency assets had been frozen so far. Investigators suspect TraderTraitor, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking unit, was behind the attack, the outlet reported.
Zhao said Binance’s SpaceX shares were worth more than $1 billion and linked them to a $500 million investment tied to Musk’s takeover of Twitter. CNBC put SpaceX’s valuation at roughly $2 trillion.
In a post cited by CNBC, Zhao said he respected Musk but objected to the timing of his response. “Bad time to troll,” Zhao wrote, asking Musk to show support.
The two executives have clashed online before. In 2021, Musk criticized Binance after a wallet glitch led the exchange to suspend withdrawals, and Zhao answered by citing a Tesla recall involving nearly 12,000 U.S. vehicles, CNBC reported.
