CZ and Willy Woo Spark Debate: Exchanges Are Safer Than Self-Custody (Flash News)

Citing data from popular analyst Willy Woo, Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, published a rather controversial opinion on X, stating that it is statistically safer to store crypto assets on exchanges than in self-custody.

Willy Woo’s data shows that 1.57 million BTC has been lost from investors storing their holdings in self-custody compared to 1.51 million from those keeping their assets on exchanges. However, the data Woo shared comes from a December 2025 report and hasn’t taken into consideration the latest hacks and incidents, including the Coldcard fiasco, in which the value of stolen BTC increases daily.

CZ explained that hack data is easier to collect on the centralized exchange’s side, as most become major news. In contrast, it’s more difficult on the self-custody side, where hacks and lost coins are often not reported.

“On the exchange side, some deceased exchanges drag down the data. Binance (and a few other exchanges) have always covered users for any CEX side hacks.”

He concluded that a balanced approach, in which investors split their holdings into multiple custodians, is “probably best.”

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