Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the exchange could use its stake in SpaceX, valued at more than $1 billion, to cover losses from a $6.3 billion hack. Binance co-founder Yi He countered that the exchange's yearly revenue may be sufficient to address the remaining shortfall without liquidating the SpaceX shares.
Breakdown of Recoverable Funds
Zhao outlined how much of the stolen funds had been recovered or frozen across multiple stablecoin issuers. Tether froze more than $1.56 billion in USDT, while Circle froze over $800 million in USDC. Ripple helped freeze around $200 million, and World Liberty Financial froze approximately $27 million, bringing total frozen assets to roughly $3 billion.
Binance's SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users) reserve fund holds approximately $1 billion that could also be applied to cover losses.
Remaining Gap and SpaceX Stake
After accounting for frozen funds and SAFU reserves, Zhao calculated that approximately $2 billion would remain uncovered. He stated that Binance's SpaceX stake alone, worth more than $1 billion, would make the remaining shortfall manageable.
Zhao noted that Binance's $500 million investment in Elon Musk's Twitter takeover resulted in SpaceX shares now valued at more than $1 billion.
Revenue as Primary Solution
Yi He stated that Binance's annual revenue is sufficient to cover the losses, indicating the exchange does not yet need to sell the SpaceX shares.
