Zach Pandl: Binance hack will push exchanges to strengthen security and institutional custody.

Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale, analyzed that the over $6 billion theft from Binance in October brings the total crypto security losses for 2026 to over $8 billion, a new high. Excluding this incident, the losses in 2026 would be comparable to last year. The proportion of crypto security losses to total market capitalization has been declining in the long term. Binance has restored customer positions; currently, 95% of the affected assets have been replenished, with the remaining 5% requiring more time, but customers will not incur losses. Approximately $2.9 billion of the stolen funds have been frozen by stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Circle, and are expected to be returned to Binance. This incident will prompt exchanges to strengthen their security practices and increase the importance of institutional custody.