EBinance just absorbed a six-point-three BILLION dollar hack, and says it covered ninety percent of the losses.
SThe BBC is reporting that, and the FBI is blaming North Korea. But this is still unconfirmed—no independent verification yet.
EIf even half of that is true, it's one of the largest crypto thefts ever, and the exchange ate most of it. Investors got bailed out by the HOUSE.
SThe house doesn't have a choice. It holds people's money. If it didn't reassure users, there'd be a run.
EAnd yet every bank in history has needed a government bailout for a fraction of that. Binance just wrote a check.
SBinance isn't a bank. It's a casino operating without the same rules, so it has to self-insure.
EOh, come on. A six billion dollar hit and users lose almost nothing? That's not a casino, that's a fortress.
SA fortress that got hacked for six billion dollars! You're praising the alarm after the vault was emptied.
ENo, I'm praising the fact they made customers whole. That's the only metric that matters to regular people.
SWe don't KNOW they made customers whole. We have a BBC report, no confirmation, and a PR statement. Show me the reserves.
ENorth Korea is widely reported to have been using crypto heists to fund its weapons program for years. This isn't new—it's just the biggest.
SThat part I don't dispute. The Lazarus Group has been at this for a decade. But the scale here is unprecedented.
SBut it's still a bailout of its own users using money from... where? We don't know if it came from reserves, borrowing, or other users' deposits.
EIt's a crypto exchange, they have reserves. Every credible one does. You can verify on-chain.
SYou can verify if the exchange lets you. Binance has been opaque about its books for years.
ESo we're back to 'I don't trust the company.' Fine. But the alternative is a bank that would've frozen accounts and called Congress.
SDifference is, a bank is insured by the FDIC. Crypto users have no such safety net—except the goodwill of the exchange. That goodwill just got tested.
EAnd it held. That's my point.
S...Maybe. We'll see when the numbers are confirmed.
EI'll take a 'maybe' from you. That's progress.
ESpeaking of people making plans, Halloween was yesterday and the internet is already handling post-costume trauma.
SA guy who goes by The Greatest on X says walking down the street to Snoop's 'Murder Was The Case' is all the fear he needs—had him looking over his shoulder.
EThat track is basically a horror movie in three minutes. I'd be checking alleys too.
SAnd then there's Chels, already planning next year's costume because she always fumbles. That's the smartest person on X tonight.
EPlanning a costume eleven months early is not smart, it's a cry for help. You'll forget by March.
SNo, you'll have it DONE by March. The best costumes are built, not bought at a Spirit Halloween at 9 PM.
ESpirit Halloween at 9 PM is a rite of passage. You grab a wig and a cape and call it a personality.
SAnd THAT's why you end up as 'guy in a cape' every year.
EHey, I was a very specific guy in a cape. He had a backstory.
EDifferent world entirely: the BBC is reporting on a man stuck on a tiny Pacific island since 2023 because he can't get a transit visa to fly home to Sri Lanka.
SAccording to the BBC, Ruchira Ranasingha, fifty years old, is stranded in the Cook Islands. He just needs a transit visa, and no one will stamp it.
EThat's the most bureaucratic hostage situation I've ever heard.
SThe BBC hasn't got independent confirmation on the details, so treat it as a report, not gospel. But if true, it's absurd.
EIt's not just absurd, it's cruel. A transit visa is supposed to be routine. Two years?
SVisa messes happen all over the world. But usually someone with a passport can find a consulate. The Cook Islands is pretty remote.
ERemote doesn't excuse incompetence. Somebody in either Sri Lanka or New Zealand needs to pick up a phone.
SYou're right, it shouldn't take two years. But we don't know the full story—maybe there's a passport issue or a missing document.
EWhatever it is, it's a man's life on hold. Hope it gets sorted.