Binance founder CZ says crypto exchange didn't sell any SpaceX stock amid hack

Binance founder Changpeng Zhou has no beef with fellow crypto-loving billionaire and Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPCX) CEO Elon Musk.

"I am still very friendly with Elon. I don't think he has any hostility towards me," Zhou, known as "CZ" in the crypto community, said at Yahoo Finance Invest.

The two got into a public spat on X after hackers stole an estimated $6.3 billion from the crypto exchange on Oct. 29. The following day, Musk responded to posts questioning Binance's ability to cover customer losses with mocking emojis.

"Bad time to troll. Please stop," CZ fired back, reminding Musk that Binance's $500 million investment in his 2022 Twitter takeover is now worth more than $1 billion through its SpaceX stake.

CZ confirmed Binance did not sell any SpaceX shares. "We didn't need to," CZ said, adding, "I never said we would."

Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency trading platform and holds approximately $171 billion in total assets on its platform. The company is led by co-CEOs Richard Teng and Yi Le.

CZ stepped down as Binance's CEO in 2023 after the Justice Department charged him with running a financial platform without basic anti-money laundering safeguards following a years-long investigation. CZ served four months in federal prison and was released in September 2024. In October of the following year, President Trump signed a full pardon for Zhao.