Binance crypto exchange's $6.3 bn heist rattles crypto, draws scrutiny

Michael Selig, the head of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, spoke about the Binance hack during an appearance on CNBC's Squawk on the Street. He stated that the incident proves their proposal for cryptocurrency market regulations earlier this month. Selig emphasized that the crypto ecosystem is largely unregulated and lacks the safeguards present in traditional US markets.

He suggested that allowing exchanges to register with the CFTC could help prevent future incidents. Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, disclosed a security breach on Thursday, resulting in an estimated loss of $6.3 billion. The company claimed to cover all losses and attributed the incident to a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop.

Binance's co-CEO, Richard Teng, reassured users that they were working tirelessly to resolve the situation. President Donald Trump has not commented on the Binance hack, but it's worth noting that he pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in March 2025 after he served four months in prison for violating money-laundering laws and sanctions regulations.

Crypto mining has also raised concerns about energy consumption, with former energy secretary Steven Chu expressing worries about its impact on the US power grid.