Yi He responds to criticism of Binance’s security and access management, says she will take full responsibility for any funding shortfall
Binance co-founder Yi He posted on X on November 4, 2026, responding to outside criticism and suggestions regarding the platform’s security and access management. She said Binance accepts all criticism and stressed that user fund security is the top responsibility. If a funding shortfall occurs, Binance will take full responsibility and will not evade responsibility.
Yi He also said that Binance chose to disclose the specific details of the security incident publicly because it hopes to build trust through transparent disclosure, and also to provide the industry with a reference for dealing with social engineering attacks and AI access-boundary risks. Previously, some professionals had suggested not disclosing the details, but the platform believed transparency helps build trust.
As for subsequent preventive measures, Binance has restructured access permissions and security boundaries across departments, updated devices, reset AI tools, and adjusted its security system in line with the zero-trust and least-privilege principles. It will also release a security audit report later. Yi He also said that AI security experts and technical talent are welcome to join Binance to jointly verify and improve the security system.
Original source:
Title: Regarding criticism and suggestions about Binance’s security and access management, we accept them all. Publisher: Yi He (@heyibinance) Publication date: 2026-11-04 URL: https://x.com/heyibinance/status/2117951579588595963 Source type: primary statement Verification status: The relevant passages were actually read in this report, verification date 2026-11-04 Supported content: supports the main text’s acceptance of criticism, taking full responsibility for any funding shortfall, choosing transparent disclosure to build trust and provide the industry with a reference on social engineering and AI access risks, having restructured access and security boundaries according to the zero-trust and least-privilege principles, planning to release a security audit report, and welcoming AI security experts to join; does not prove the specific extent of the restructuring or the content of the audit report
ABAB AI Insight
Yi He is a co-founder of Binance and has long been responsible for customer service and operations-related matters. This response came after Binance’s approximately $6.3 billion hot-wallet-related security incident on October 29. In the incident, the attackers allegedly gained access to an employee’s device through a fake recruitment interview and internal AI tools, bypassing normal procedures to transfer assets, rather than directly stealing private keys. Binance had previously said it would cover user losses with its own funds and had already replenished most of the affected assets.
In her post, Yi He broke the issue down into three points: whether user funds were affected, how the incident happened, and how to prevent it in the future. She clearly said that even if a large shortfall could legally be handled through bankruptcy or similar means, Binance still chose to bear full responsibility in accordance with a user-centered principle. This statement continues the platform’s earlier public commitment to the “SAFU” (Secure Asset Fund for Users) mechanism, but this time places greater emphasis on proactively choosing not to evade responsibility in a situation where it could have done so.
On disclosure of details, Yi He noted that professionals had previously suggested not publicly releasing the full report, but the platform chose transparency so as to provide the industry with a reference for dealing with social engineering attacks and the issue of AI tool access boundaries. This is consistent with the pattern in several previous exchange incidents in which attackers exploited internal approval or tool permissions rather than directly stealing keys.
As for follow-up measures, Binance said it has restructured cross-department access permissions and security boundaries, updated devices, and reset AI tools, adjusting them according to the zero-trust and least-privilege principles. Zero trust requires that no internal or external access be trusted by default, while least privilege restricts accounts to the minimum permissions needed to complete their tasks. The platform also plans to release a security audit report and is publicly recruiting AI security talent to participate in verification.
This response shifts the focus from the incident itself to responsibility-taking and systemic remediation. The key points to watch are whether the audit report is released on time, whether the specific scope and timeline of the permission restructuring can be verified, and whether recruiting AI security talent can form a sustained external or internal verification mechanism.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
Publicly choosing to bear funding responsibility that could otherwise be legally avoided can shift trust from “no loss occurred” to “performance is still upheld after a loss occurs.”
The zero-trust and least-privilege principles require access to be restricted by default, thereby reducing the room for lateral movement after internal credentials or tools are misused.