In the wake of two recent attacks on cryptoasset exchanges, the outspoken CEO and founder of the Binance exchange, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, plugged the company’s upcoming decentralized exchange (DEX).
Zhao initially responded directly to the news that New Zealand-based Cryptopia was hacked and funds were stolen on Twitter:
Store coins yourself. You fight hackers yourself, and guard from losing wallet yourself. Computer breaks, USBs gets lost.
Store on an exchange. Only use the most reputable, proven secure, exchanges.
Or move to DEX, disrupt ourselves. https://t.co/Ci4ux9I3VD
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) January 15, 2019
He subsequently tweeted, in the same thread, that he was specifically advertising a Binance decentralized exchange, which has been in the works for some time.
‘Disrupt Ourselves’ with ‘Binancechain’
Last month, CZ claimed that the new Binancechain was “launching […] very soon.” Binancechain is a proprietary blockchain built in-house, specifically to operate the upcoming DEX. Along with the Binancechain announcement, the company also released an updated demo video of the DEX in action to accompany the release claims.
CZ went on to tweet yet again, also yesterday, that “Maybe it’s time for a new DEX. :)” In short, the series of announcements, news, and tweets are building up a body of suggestions – that Binance’s DEX could go live any day now.
My early tweet may not have made the DEX advertising intention clear enough. Some people seem to misread it. I guess one gotta be shamelessly clear on advertising. #BinanceDEX
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) January 15, 2019
Ethereum Classic, Gate.io, Cryptopia
As CryptoGlobe reported, the Ethereum Classic (ETC) blockchain was recently 51%-attacked. A flurry of confusion followed the attack, with ETC developers at one point suggesting that the attack was perhaps not an attack – a speculation later rescinded.
The confusion continued as Chinese exchange Gate.io reported nearly $200,000 worth of ETC stolen from its servers, and said it would compensate customers to that end. Days later, however, Gate.io reported the strange phenomenon that about $100,000 worth of the stolen ETC had been subsequently returned, suggesting a (semi-)ethical attacker.
Then, news quickly broke yesterday of an exchange hack on the small-cap exchange Cryptopia. The exchange’s website is now down and New Zealand police are considering the hack a “complex situation,” in which “significant value” has been lost.
Twitter Agro
WhalePanda, a notable personality in the cryptoasset industry’s social media scene, did not take very kindly to what he perceived was CZ’s suggestion that users should “Store [their assets]on an exchange [-] Only use the most reputable, proven secure, exchanges.” WhalePanda called this “Absolutely horrible advice.”
Exchange owner tells people to keep their coins on exchanges. 🤔
Absolutely horrible advice. pic.twitter.com/zOD6RVdxq0— WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) January 15, 2019
It was this statement that prompted CZ to further emphasize the final part of his response, which was plugging Binance’s DEX – which of course should not be vulnerable the sorts of issues that have befallen Gate.io and Cryptopia in the past week.
Malta-registered Binance is one of the world’s largest exchanges by trade volume – number one according to CoinMarketCap by adjusted trading volume (which excludes derivative products like BitMEX’s futures trading).
It is therefore somewhat surprising to note that, in a recent audit of cryptoasset exchanges’ security regimes, Binance was rated 34th out of 135 top exchanges by IcoRating.com
