Within hours of the largest crypto theft in history, theories spread on social media: the Binance hack was an inside job, Binance staged it to hide losses, money flows to the Trump family are behind it, and the timing five days before the US midterm elections is no coincidence. Our fact check of the evidence available on 31 October 2026 shows: there is no public evidence for any of these claims. Blockchain investigators attribute the attack to North Korea, and US authorities are tracing the stolen funds. What is documented, however, are close business ties between Binance, its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and the Trump family's crypto company World Liberty Financial. They explain why the theories find fertile ground.
Fact check at a glance
- "It was an inside job": no public evidence. TRM Labs attributes the attack with high confidence to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.
- "Binance staged the hack": no evidence. About $3 billion was frozen by third parties within hours; Binance promises a proof of reserves by Monday.
- "CZ bought his way out of prison": false as stated. CZ served his four-month sentence and was released in Septembe...
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