Elon Musk is taking a swipe at Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) following the recent $6 billion hack.
Musk reacted with a fire emoji and a laughing emoji to a post CZ had shared two days earlier that warned crypto users against clicking links in emails or downloading attachments.
CZ had cautioned that even emails from trusted contacts could be dangerous because the sender’s computer might unknowingly be infected with a virus.
Musk’s reaction comes amid Binance’s security incident, which has triggered an industry-wide effort to trace and freeze the stolen funds. He appeared to highlight the irony of CZ advising crypto users about security awareness only to see Binance suffer the largest crypto heists in history a day later.
🔥😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2026
How the Binance Exploit Happened
Crypto investigator Dickson Wu revealed that Binance hot wallets lost $6.28 billion across eight blockchains. Ethereum accounted for the largest share, at $3.74 billion. It was followed by $1.47 billion in Bitcoin and $627.5 million in USDT and TRX. Other stolen assets included XRP, SOL, and tokens on Arbitrum, Avalanche, and Optimism.
Meanwhile, crypto companies including Tether, Ripple, Circle, and Paxos have frozen over $3 billion. Investigators identify North Korean hackers as suspects in orchestrating the attack, citing on-chain connections to a previous $388 million Bitget hack.
Binance hot wallets lost ~$6.28B across 8 chains today. $6.07B went in the first 55 minutes, and the attacker kept re-sweeping one Ethereum wallet for two more hours.
Since then Tether, Circle, Ripple, Paxos, World Liberty and Binance have frozen ~$2.80B. About $3.27B can still… pic.twitter.com/USlLBo8TdK
— Dickson (@DicksonWuML) October 30, 2026
Elon Musk: AI Agents Could Steal Billions in Crypto
Commenting on the hack, Elon Musk suggested that superintelligent AI agents could eventually steal cryptocurrency to build wealth for themselves. His comments followed reports that the Binance attacker had used the DeFi lending protocol Aave to move stolen funds beyond the reach of centralized stablecoin issuers.
Musk believes that if advanced AI agents eventually control wallets and interact independently with financial platforms, they could use similar strategies to accumulate and manage wealth for themselves.
Crypto Community Divided Over Binance Hack
Meanwhile, veteran crypto investor Eric (@econoar) replied to Musk’s post, saying that people should not judge the entire crypto industry based on security incidents involving centralized exchanges.
He also pointed to Musk’s recent interest in the connection between Hyperliquid and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), suggesting that the billionaire recognizes the technology’s broader potential despite criticizing CZ.
Eric added that the industry would continue to develop despite the criticism following the Binance breach. According to him, crypto and blockchain technology are bringing significant changes to the global financial system, regardless of the negative sentiment surrounding individual incidents.
CZ Says Binance Users’ Funds Are Safe
Meanwhile, Binance and CZ have reassured users that their funds are safe. The exchange says its user protection fund, SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users), remains in place as investigations into the breach and efforts to recover the stolen crypto assets continue.
CZ also thanked members of the crypto industry, including competitors and former critics, for their support. “It hurts, but we will survive,” CZ wrote.
User funds are SAFU!
Yet, this pregnant lady 👇 pulled an all nighter, along side hundreds of Binancians.
Many industry friends and even competitors (including some previously-not-so-friendly ones) provided very much needed help. 🙏
It hurts, but we will survive. 💪 https://t.co/vQtSx4OcPy
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 30, 2026
CZ later shared a post from Crypto_bn criticizing people in the industry for spreading fear and negative rumors about Binance during the crisis. The post called on the crypto community to support one another during major incidents rather than create further division.