On November 10, 2026, Odaily Planet Daily reported that CertiK’s research team said crypto trading platforms should not measure security only by the share of assets kept in cold wallets. The team also said platforms should set a clear U.S. dollar ceiling on hot-wallet holdings.
The comments were framed against disclosures that followed an attack on a Binance hot wallet. In that setting, several platforms published cold-wallet reserve ratios in an effort to strengthen user confidence. Gate said 88.26% of its total assets were held in cold wallets. Coinbase said more than 99% of customer assets were offline. The two figures are not the same measure: one is a share of total assets in cold storage, the other a share of customer assets described as offline.
CertiK’s research team said a cold-storage ratio can show how much of the asset base is exposed online, but it cannot stand alone as a security score. Raising the cold-wallet share usually reduces online risk. Once the share is already high, further increases may bring only limited benefit. An overly rigid storage ratio can also slow withdrawals, push a platform into hurried asset transfers, and concentrate risk in the key-management system.
Those points describe storage exposure and operational tradeoffs. On the report as published, the Gate and Coinbase ratios are disclosures of where assets sit. They are not presented as an audit, a proof of solvency, or a comparison of reserves with customer liabilities, and a wallet balance alone does not establish legal ownership or what the platform owes customers.
Original article: Odaily Planet Daily (the flash also names Cointelegraph).