Binance’s CZ issues blunt wake-up call to not one but two planets
In the largest data breach ever, more than 16 billion login passwords recently got exposed.
Reports indicate that cybercriminals likely used infostealing malware to steal usernames and passwords from social media, corporate platforms, VPNs, developer portals, etc.
Alphabet's Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Meta Platforms' Facebook (Nasdaq: META), GitHub, or Telegram — the cyberattack didn't spare either of these leading platforms.
Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao "CZ" sounded the alarm over the devastating data leak.
"That's 2 passwords per person for the planet," CZ underlined how the number of compromised passwords is twice the earth's population.
CZ advised everyone to preferably use a different email address and a different password for each site. He added:
"And use a hardware 2FA device!"
Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, and the industry is a frequent target of such data leaks.
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On May 11, Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN), the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., revealed a data leak that affected 69,461 individuals. The leak exposed the names, addresses, and contact details of the affected users. The incident took place on Dec. 26, 2024, and the exchange got to know of it much later in May 2025.
Data leaks are, however, somehow less worrisome than cyber heists on crypto exchanges because nothing is as devastating as losing funds.
The on-chain analytics platform Chainalysis published a report on Jan. 15 as per which illicit addresses received $40.9 billion in stolen crypto assets in 2024. It estimated that the figure could even be as high as $51.3 billion.
Source: Chainalysis
2022 was the worst year for crypto users, as they lost more than $54 billion to bad actors, as per the report.
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For crypto users, safeguarding data and assets should be a strict and consistent habit. Users should religiously exercise all measures necessary to secure their data and funds.
Several crypto users have found refuge in the security offered by industry-leading Ledger wallets as the cases of data leaks are on the rise.
