Grayscale research head Zach Pandl said crypto security losses in 2026 have climbed past $8 billion, setting a new record after more than $6 billion in assets were stolen from Binance in October. He said that without the Binance incident, this year’s losses would have been roughly in line with last year. Pandl also noted that crypto security losses as a share of total market capitalization have been trending lower over the long term.
According to Pandl, Binance moved quickly to restore customer positions. He said 95% of affected assets have already been fully covered, while the remaining 5% consists of less liquid tokens that will take longer to process. Binance customers will not bear losses, he said. Pandl added that about $2.9 billion, or roughly 45% of the stolen funds, has already been frozen by stablecoin issuers including Tether and Circle, and those funds are expected to be returned to Binance. He said the incident could weigh on market confidence in the near term, but may ultimately push exchanges across the sector to strengthen security practices and highlight the value of institutional custody.
According to monitoring cited by Zach Pandl, Grayscale research head Zach Pandl said crypto security losses in 2026 have risen above $8 billion, setting a new record after more than $6 billion in assets were stolen from Binance in October.
Pandl said that excluding the Binance incident, crypto security losses this year would have been roughly in line with last year. He also said losses as a share of total crypto market capitalization have been on a long-term downward trend.
Most affected assets have been restored
Pandl said Binance moved quickly to restore customer positions. He said 95% of the affected assets have already been fully covered, while the remaining 5% consists of less liquid tokens that will take longer to handle. Binance customers will not bear losses, according to his assessment.
About $2.9 billion has been frozen
He added that about $2.9 billion, or around 45% of the stolen funds, has been frozen by stablecoin issuers including Tether and Circle. Those funds are expected to be returned to Binance.
Incident may lead exchanges to tighten security
Pandl said the event could temporarily hurt market confidence, but may ultimately lead exchanges across the industry to strengthen security practices and reinforce the importance of institutional custody.
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