Originally published by The Block on November 4, 2026, at 04:42:36 UTC+8.
Binance cofounder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao called for a crypto-industry security alliance following the exchange’s October 29 hack, proposing shared best practices, cross-audits and faster cooperation to freeze stolen funds.
Speaking to the Talking Tokens podcast in his first public interview since the hack, Zhao argued that AI is accelerating attacks and that the consequences extend beyond exchanges to the broader financial system.
Binance describes employee compromise
Binance said earlier Tuesday that attackers used a fake job interview to compromise an employee’s computer, then leveraged an internal AI tool in the attack. The exchange also said it had detected and prevented 57 suspected North Korea-linked cyber threats in 2026. That disclosure did not identify those threats as responsible for the October 29 incident.
Zhao said he learned about the hack around midnight in the UAE. While Binance’s team worked to contain the attack and protect users, he focused on communicating with the community.
He attributed relatively calm market conditions and subsequent net inflows to Binance’s response, financial capacity and user trust. Those were Zhao’s assessments, not an independent verification of the exchange’s financial position. The supplied report did not detail the Binance loss amount, customer liabilities or how any losses would be allocated.
A proposal for coordinated defense
Zhao urged companies to invest in AI-based defenses, security personnel and partnerships with AI security providers.
“The speed of hacking is going to pick up because of AI capabilities [being] so strong now,” he said. “At the same time, we’ve got to use more AI to defend.”
His proposed alliance would help companies learn from one another’s mistakes, share security practices, conduct cross-audits and coordinate rapid freezes of stolen funds. The report described a call for collaboration, not an established alliance or an implemented fund-freezing arrangement.
Zhao characterized security as a continuing process rather than a milestone that must be completed before adoption. He said incidents could be prevented with sufficient effort and attention, while warning against organizational complacency.
The comments followed other reported security incidents, including a separate AI-assisted breach at blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis and a $46 million incident at Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin.
Connections to traditional finance widen the stakes
Zhao pointed to crypto’s links with stablecoins, tokenized stocks, real-world assets and traditional finance as reasons that a major attack can have consequences beyond a single company.
“It impacts the company, impacts the industry, impacts global finance,” he said, describing the threat as “definitely at the national security level as well.”
He said he had not discussed the incident with President Donald Trump or other U.S. officials, but that Binance and the wider industry would welcome government assistance. Trump had said the U.S. was “looking into it.”
Zhao also expressed optimism that AI could identify software vulnerabilities and strengthen defenses, while blockchain could support faster transactions facilitated by AI.