The founder of rival exchange Coinex says the $6.34 billion Binance hack came down to three avoidable errors that required operational discipline, not advanced technology, to prevent.
The Three Mistakes
Haipo Yang, the Coinex founder who has built a career around scrutinizing exchange risk, argued that the Binance breach exposed "at least three critical mistakes that were entirely avoidable." Yang said the failure was one of operational discipline rather than a lack of sophisticated technology.
His critique centered on three gaps. First, development and operations environments were "not completely isolated," he said, with staff who needed access to production systems using machines that were not fully separated from corporate computing.
Second, a single credential was enough to operate Binance production services, meaning one leaked credential gave an attacker full control. Yang suggested browser-based session management with hardware security keys as a second factor.
Third, Binance used a multi-party computation wallet system, but the signers did not meaningfully verify transactions, so compromising one node had the same effect as a single signature. Multi-signature only works when each signer independently checks the transaction, Yang said.
Binance Through the Breach
Binance itself pointed to similar themes in its post-mortem. After a fake job interview and compromised AI tools, the attackers "moved violently through our internal AI tools" and gained access to "the system that authorized our wallet transaction," co-CEO Richard Teng told CNBC.
Binance said it has since rebuilt the affected wallet system, replaced devices, revoked credentials and strengthened wallet-service risk controls. Teng also told Fox Business that "the company bears full responsibility," while noting that 98% of impacted assets have been replenished.
More Voices Weigh In
Zero Knowledge Group founder Austin Campbell told crypto media that "crypto never built itself for security outside of the tech vertical," calling for a 24-hour hold on billion-dollar transfers.
The Founder's Own Lesson
The critique carries an unusual backdrop, because in September Yang announced that Coinex would begin an orderly shutdown, with withdrawals open until Dec. 22, 2026. He said then that the security and compliance risks of running an exchange had become harder to control, adding that "taking on unlimited risks for limited revenue is no longer a rational choice."
In other words, the founder dissecting Binance failures concluded that the same risks were not worth carrying at his own firm.
None of Yang fixes are exotic; device separation, hardware keys and independent signer checks are standard advice for any major firm. The fact that a firm with Binance resources was beaten through those gaps is what makes the critique sting.
FAQ
Was the Binance hack avoidable?
Yes, according to Coinex founder Haipo Yang, who said the Binance breach exposed "at least three critical mistakes that were entirely avoidable."
What were the three mistakes in the Binance hack?
Development and operations environments were not fully isolated; a single credential was enough to operate production services; and wallet signers did not meaningfully verify transactions.
How much did Binance lose in the hack?
Binance said about $6.34 billion in assets was drained from its hot wallets on Oct. 29, and that 98% of impacted assets have since been replenished.
Source: Bitcoin.com News — original report published 11/4/2026. This article was independently rewritten and edited by TheCryptoNist.
Comments
Loading comments…