CZ: Centralized Exchanges May Be Safer Than Self-Custody for Cryptocurrency Holders

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has sparked debate over cryptocurrency custody after sharing his thoughts on the matter.

CZ responded to Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo, who shared figures showing that 1.57 million BTC have been lost through self-custody compared with 1.51 million BTC lost on cryptocurrency exchanges.

CZ argued that it may be statistically safer to store digital assets on centralized exchanges than through self-custody, but also cautioned that both approaches carry different risks.

CZ noted that exchange hacks are easier to quantify because they typically become major public events, whereas self-custody losses often go unreported.