Binance’s CZ Says Trust Wallet Will Refund $7M After Security Hack, Points To Possible Insider Job

Binance holds SAFU's reserve in Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), and stablecoins.

• On X, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said Trust Wallet will fully refund about $7 million in user losses, adding that funds are “SAFU” and the breach was most likely insider-linked.
• Trust Wallet stated that the incident affected only Browser Extension version 2.68 and advised users to disable it and upgrade to version 2.69.
• Binance's Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), established in 2018 and funded by trading fees, is intended to recompense users after security vulnerabilities.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ, said that Trust Wallet, a self-custodial crypto wallet he owns, will fully refund $7 million in customer losses caused by a security breach on Thursday and assured users that their money is safe while the inquiry proceeds.

“So far, $7m has been affected by this hack. @TrustWallet will cover. User funds are SAFU,” CZ said in a post on X, adding that the team is still investigating how attackers were able to submit a malicious version of the Google Chrome extension. Responding to speculation in the thread, CZ said the breach was “most likely” linked to an insider.

Binance's CZ discloses that $& million in user funds were affected in the Trust Wallet Breach. | Source: @cz_binance/x

What Happened at TrustWallet?

Trust Wallet stated that it discovered a security vulnerability that only affects the Trust Wallet Browser Extension version 2.68. The firm recommended that customers running that version disable it immediately and upgrade to version 2.69 via the official Chrome Web Store link.

The wallet provider stated that mobile-only users and all other browser extension versions were unaffected, limiting the impact to a single extension release. Trust Wallet noted on X that its team is actively examining the incident and will continue to provide updates as they become available.

What is SAFU?

The Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) was founded by Binance in 2018 to provide insurance for users against hacks and other security issues on exchanges like Binance. The goal of SAFU was to provide Binance users with greater confidence when using the platform and to eliminate the systemic risk that would otherwise arise from an ever-changing threat landscape related to hacking and other security breaches.

To build the SAFU reserve, Binance takes a percentage of trading fees and adds them to the fund, allowing it to grow along with Binance's trading activity. Binance maintains SAFU's reserve in a mix of Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), and stablecoins, and its total dollar value fluctuates with market conditions. However, in 2022, Binance reported that SAFU had grown to $1 billion and was subsequently replenished after the market decline reduced its dollar value. 

BNB was trading at $839.94, down 0.3% in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Binance Coin remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day. Chatter around the coin slipped from ‘normal’ to ‘low’ over the past day.

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