Originally published by ChainCatcher on November 10, 2026, at 13:18:05 (UTC+8).
Cybersecurity firm CertiK recommended that cryptocurrency exchanges set hard dollar limits on hot-wallet holdings rather than assess security solely through the proportion of assets held in cold storage, according to ChainCatcher.
The recommendation came as exchanges disclosed cold-storage figures to reassure customers following what the report described as a record-breaking hack of Binance’s hot wallet. Gate reported holding 88.26% of its total assets in cold storage, while Coinbase said more than 99% of customer assets were kept offline. Those disclosures use different asset bases: Gate’s figure refers to total assets, while Coinbase’s refers to customer assets.
Size hot wallets against obligations and loss capacity
CertiK’s research team told Cointelegraph that cold-storage levels are a useful measure of online exposure, but not a standalone security score.
For each asset and blockchain, CertiK recommended setting a hot-wallet cap using whichever of three limits is most restrictive:
- A percentage of customer liabilities.
- Estimated withdrawal demand.
- An absolute loss ceiling based on the exchange’s financial resources and recovery capacity.
This approach ties online holdings to customer obligations, withdrawal needs and the exchange’s capacity to absorb a loss, rather than relying on a storage percentage alone.
Higher cold-storage ratios have operational trade-offs
The report outlined several jurisdictions’ cold-storage thresholds for customer crypto assets:
- South Korea: at least 80% of their value.
- Singapore: guidance calls for at least 90%.
- Japan: its framework requires at least 95%.
- Hong Kong: the benchmark for licensed crypto trading platforms is 98%.
CertiK said higher cold-storage levels generally reduce online exposure, but the benefits diminish at very high levels. Rigid ratios can also slow withdrawals, force rushed transfers and concentrate risk in key-management systems.
Binance’s reported replenishment and laundering activity
According to the report, Binance said the previous week that it had replenished approximately 98% of the affected tokens after the hack and absorbed the loss itself. The remaining tokens were less liquid and would take longer to obtain.
Elliptic said North Korea-linked hackers laundered funds by issuing memecoins, moving approximately $430,000 through six newly issued tokens on NEAR.