Exchanges May Be Safer Than Self-Custody, Binance CEO Claims

Binance CEO CZ made headlines by stating that exchanges are statistically safer than self-custody. According to CZ, data from Willy Woo shows 1.57 million BTC lost through self-custody compared to 1.51 million on exchanges.

CZ argued that exchange hacks receive more media attention and thus have higher visibility, whereas self-custody losses often go unreported due to factors such as lost private keys or forgotten passwords.

In contrast, the SAFU fund of Binance has consistently covered user losses tied to CEX-side breaches. The exchange recently expanded its Secure Asset Fund into a $1 billion Bitcoin reserve.