Trump Says His Team Is Looking Into the Binance Hack as Calls for Crypto Rules Grow

After the $6.3 billion Binance hack, pressure is building for new crypto legislation and for exchanges to move onshore. Co-CEO Richard Teng said the breach was caused in part by a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which gave the attacker access to a service container used to submit unauthorized withdrawals. TRM Labs has tied the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit. At a Friday press conference, President Donald Trump said he was looking into it and that Binance says customers will get their funds back, but called it a hack and said he has always felt crypto was a little dangerous.

CFTC Chair Says Offshore Exchanges Lack Safeguards

CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the attack proves the point behind the agency’s Oct. 5 proposal, which covers leveraged retail crypto trading and a new registration category for exchanges. He said the real issue is unregulated offshore exchanges that lack the safeguards found in US markets. Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about Binance for years, mainly over money laundering and consumer protection. In 2023, former CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain adequate anti-money-laundering controls as part of a $4 billion settlement, and Trump later pardoned him.

Would the CLARITY Act Have Helped Freeze Funds?

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a negotiator on the bill, said it would have given crypto firms legal cover to freeze suspicious transactions the instant law enforcement calls. The House passed the CLARITY Act last year, but it has stalled in the Senate amid concerns over Trump’s crypto wealth tied to World Liberty Financial and his memecoin.

Digital Chamber Urges Congress to Act

Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone sent a letter to House and Senate leaders asking Congress to act before it adjourns on a bill giving the CFTC authority over crypto exchanges and separating customer funds from company funds in bankruptcy. He argued that no federal regulator can currently enforce consistent standards for how platforms hold and secure customer assets, so regulators can only act after the damage is done. weapons and ballistic missile programs.