Yi He Says Binance Is Investigating a Potential Security Issue, User Funds SAFU
On October 29, Yi He posted that she had been made aware of reports of a potential security issue and that the matter was being actively investigated. The security team is urgently reviewing the relevant information, and once verified, updates will be provided through Binance’s official channels. She reminded users to be wary of scams, not to trust unofficial links, messages, or requests for account information, and explicitly stated that user funds are SAFU.
Binance’s official account issued a similar statement the same day, saying the team had been made aware of reports of a potential security issue and was investigating, and that at this stage it had not confirmed any impact on user funds. The statement emphasized that updates would be provided through official channels and reminded users to guard against scams.
Earlier, Changpeng Zhao posted that the incident looked like a hack attack on Binance and thanked Tether and Circle for quickly freezing the related stablecoins. On-chain data showed that multiple large transfers of assets were made out of addresses labeled as Binance hot wallets, and the related stablecoins have been frozen by the issuers. Binance is still in the investigation stage and has not released further verification results.
Original sources:
Title: We are aware of reports of a potential security issue... Publisher: Yi He (@heyibinance) Date: 2026-10-29 URL: https://x.com/heyibinance/status/2115915841195942020 Source nature: Original post by Binance co-founder Verification status: Full original post read Supporting content: Aware of reports of a potential security issue and investigating; updates will be provided through official channels; user funds SAFU; reminder to guard against scams.
Title: Our teams are aware of reports of a potential security issue... Publisher: Binance (@binance) Date: 2026-10-29 URL: https://x.com/binance/status/2115915483832832425 Source nature: Original post by Binance official account Verification status: Related original post read Supporting content: Official account confirmed it is investigating a potential security issue; future updates will be provided through official channels.
ABAB AI Insight
The statements from Yi He and Binance’s official account are consistent, both using the wording “potential security issue” and “under investigation,” and neither confirms the nature of the incident or that user funds have been affected. This differs in timing and wording from Changpeng Zhao’s earlier personal judgment that it looked like a hack attack. It is not uncommon in major exchange security incidents for a shareholder’s personal statement to precede the operating entity’s formal verification, but both emphasize that user funds are protected.
“User Funds SAFU” directly refers to Binance’s Secure Asset Fund for Users mechanism. The fund has historically been used to cover losses from the 2019 hot wallet incident. The current statement uses SAFU as a reassurance, but does not disclose any specific deployment arrangement or coverage scope, making it a statement based on an existing mechanism rather than a completed compensation announcement.
The official channels’ emphasis that they have not yet confirmed any impact on user funds, along with the warning to users to guard against scams, indicates that the investigation is still ongoing while the priority is to contain information risk and secondary phishing attempts. On-chain transfers and stablecoin freezes have already occurred, but Binance has not yet classified the relevant address activity as confirmed operational losses or losses of user funds. Future official updates will be the key basis for distinguishing abnormal movements of hot wallet operating assets from any impact on user funds.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
It is common in exchange security incidents for shareholders to make the first characterization and the operating entity to verify later.
The SAFU statement provides an expectation of protection, but the scope of coverage and conditions for use still require further official confirmation.