Binance may use its stake in SpaceX, valued by founder Changpeng Zhao at more than $1 billion, to help absorb losses from a major security breach. Zhao said the exchange will cover all user losses from the incident and will not pass costs to customers.
The breach occurred on October 29–30, 2026, and is expected to cost Binance approximately $6.3 billion. The exchange froze around $3 billion in assets immediately after detecting the breach and is working with law enforcement and stablecoin issuers to recover additional stolen funds.
Addressing the losses
On October 30, 2026, Zhao pledged that Binance would cover all user losses tied to the incident. The estimated loss represents a fraction of the approximately $144 billion in total assets the exchange held in custody before the breach.
The $3 billion in frozen assets substantially narrows the gap. Combined with the SpaceX stake valued over $1 billion, Binance has multiple levers to draw from before needing to access customer funds.
Source of the SpaceX shares
Binance's SpaceX connection stems from a $500 million investment in Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, part of the broader $44 billion deal that took the platform private. Twitter has since been rebranded as X. The SPCX shares held from that investment are valued by CZ at more than $1 billion.
Binance's direct ownership of SpaceX shares has not been independently verified, and its exposure is linked strictly to its investment in X.
Prior complications
This is not Binance's first SpaceX-related issue in 2026. Earlier in the year, the exchange canceled tokenized SpaceX IPO campaigns after failing to secure enough shares to meet allocations. Binance refunded investors approximately $557 million and distributed a $1 million airdrop of SPCXB tokens.
Valuation considerations
While Zhao values the SpaceX holdings at over $1 billion, private company valuations are not liquid cash. Until the shares are sold or monetized, the figure represents an estimate rather than immediately available funds.
