Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of the Binance crypto exchange, publicly called on Elon Musk to stop mocking the cryptocurrency exchange after reports of a hack amounting to $6.3 billion, turning the series of jokes about Binance into a dispute over the exchange’s response to the attack.
In his post on X, the Binance founder told Musk that he respects him, but believes his comments were poorly timed.
“Elon, I respect you a lot, but this is not the right time for trolling. Please stop,” Zhao wrote.
He then reminded Musk of Binance’s investments in his business, asking him to show support while the exchange deals with the losses.
The conflict began after Musk reacted to a cybersecurity warning posted by Zhao on October 28, a day before Binance reported the hack.
In the initial warning, Zhao strongly urged his followers not to open suspicious links in emails and not to download attachments, even if the messages seemingly came from trusted parties.
Musk responded with fire and laughing emojis. After reports of the attack, he commented on a post discussing the stolen cryptocurrency with the words “Every day is zero-day.”
The remark referred to zero-day vulnerabilities — flaws in a system’s security that attackers exploit before developers can fix them.
When the earlier warning resurfaced, Zhao replied that he wished more people had followed his advice. He noted that the attack was more sophisticated, but said that compromised devices or algorithms often play a role in security incidents.
Moreover, Musk later posted a grimacing emoji in another message concerning the Binance founder. Zhao’s subsequent request for support raised questions among users about why he mentioned the SpaceX investments.
SpaceX shares owned by Binance
In his response to Musk, Zhao stated that SpaceX shares owned by Binance and acquired thanks to a $500 million contribution to Musk’s Twitter takeover deal are now worth more than $1 billion.
“The value of our SPCX shares (obtained thanks to our $500 million investment in your Twitter acquisition) exceeds a billion dollars,” he wrote.
One user asked how these assets related to the exchange’s security problems. Zhao subsequently clarified that, when considering the financial damage, he meant available assets.
According to his rough estimates, the damage from the hack amounted to more than $6 billion, of which $3 billion was frozen and more than $1 billion was made available to users through Binance’s Secure Asset Fund.
Zhao estimated the remaining shortfall at about $2 billion. He pointed to the SpaceX assets as evidence of available financial resources, calling the outstanding amount manageable, though painful.
The calculation was not a final report on recoverable funds, and Zhao did not announce any plans to sell the shares.
