CZ and Woo Spark Debate: Exchanges Safer Than Self-Custody?

Crypto exchange Binance and analyst Willy Woo have sparked debate about the safety of storing cryptocurrencies on exchanges versus self-custody. Citing Woo's data from a December 2025 report, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao stated that it is statistically safer to store assets on exchanges than in self-custody.

The data shows that 1.57 million BTC has been lost from investors storing their holdings in self-custody compared to 1.51 million from those keeping their assets on exchanges. However, the data has not taken into consideration the latest hacks and incidents, including the Coldcard fiasco.

CZ explained that hack data is easier to collect on the exchange side because most become major news, whereas self-custody hacks are often not reported.

He concluded that a balanced approach, in which investors split their holdings into multiple custodians, is 'probably best.'