CZ Musk spat over SpaceX shares follows the Binance hack

Crypto's worst week had a social-media sideshow on Friday. The CZ Musk spat began when Elon Musk answered posts about the Binance theft with a run of emojis, and Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao responded by reminding him how much of Musk's empire his exchange owns.

What happened

"Elon, have a lot of respect for you, but bad time to troll. Please stop," Zhao wrote on X. He added that Binance's SpaceX shares, which trace back to its $500 million investment in Musk's Twitter takeover, are now worth more than $1 billion, and asked for "a little support."

Decrypt reported that Musk had reacted to a thread estimating Binance's net loss could shrink to about $1 billion once frozen funds are counted, against roughly $144 billion in assets under custody. Another user then reposted an old Sam Bankman-Fried claim that FTX could cover its losses, a comparison many read into Musk's grimacing emoji. CNBC described the posts as ranging from laughing to grimacing faces.

Binance co-CEO Yi He weighed in with a jab of her own, telling Zhao that this year's revenue is enough to cover the losses, so there is no need yet to sell the SpaceX stock he likes. Zhao later clarified that he never suggested selling; he said he was only showing Musk some of the resources Binance has.

Why it matters

The exchange is trying to project balance-sheet strength while withdrawals stay paused. Teng has said more than $6.34 billion of company money is reserved to make users whole, so a public reminder of a $1 billion-plus equity holding fits the same message: Binance has assets beyond its hot wallets.

The two have history. In November 2021, when Binance paused Dogecoin withdrawals over a wallet glitch, Musk called the move "shady" and Zhao fired back by citing a Tesla recall. The SpaceX link also matters for anyone tracking the rocket company's valuation, already a market theme in our SpaceX-Tesla merger committees coverage.

For context on the incident that started it, see our Binance security incident explainer.

The exchange of posts also underlined how intertwined crypto and Musk's companies have become. Binance's stake dates from its $500 million bet on Musk's Twitter takeover, and its value now depends on how markets price SpaceX after this month's swings. For Binance, the CZ Musk spat was a chance to remind users of assets that sit far outside its hot wallets. Zhao separately argued that, unlike Mt. Gox and FTX, Binance is covering losses itself, summing up the week with: "It hurts, but we survive."

What's next

The CZ Musk spat itself will fade, but the stake keeps Binance's fortunes tied, at the margin, to SpaceX pricing. Decrypt has the full exchange of posts.

The real test is operational: Binance is targeting a Sunday restart for withdrawals and a full proof-of-reserves report by Monday. Clean delivery on both would quiet the FTX comparisons faster than any reply on X.

If withdrawals slip, expect sceptics to revisit that emoji. If they open on time, the episode will be remembered as a sideshow during a week that tested every large exchange's crisis playbook.