Changpeng Zhao urges stronger crypto security after wallet attacks

what happened

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao published a cryptocurrency security guide on Sunday as hacks and unauthorized access cases increase. Benzinga reported that he urged users to align their protection measures with the size of their holdings and their technical skills. The report’s headline also linked the advice to an $86 million theft involving Ledger.

For people managing their own custody, Zhao recommended dedicated offline devices, hardware wallets bought from established manufacturers, strong access codes and address checks before transactions are sent. He also highlighted malware, device tampering and physical theft. Backups should be protected in several separate locations, while paper, metal and encrypted USB storage should be treated as carrying different risks.

Zhao identified inheritance arrangements as another major difficulty. He said users should establish a recovery procedure that does not expose their funds unnecessarily during their lifetime and could consider a mechanism that delivers instructions after an extended period of inactivity. Any such service should be researched and tested before it is trusted.

For centralized-exchange customers, the guidance called for reviews of each platform’s reputation, security resources, testing methods and business sustainability, while recognizing counterparty risk. Zhao also recommended dedicated computers and email accounts, updated software, unique passwords and hardware-based two-factor authentication. Benzinga said the advice followed a Ledger hardware-wallet hack and attacks involving Coldcard. Galaxy Research reported that, in August, at least 1,700 BTC worth $141.82 million at current prices was taken from addresses created by vulnerable Coldcard devices.

why it matters

The Ledger and Coldcard incidents focus attention on the security of both self-custody and exchange custody. For markets, wallet reliability, backup practices and storage infrastructure remain key crypto-risk considerations.

instruments