The reported Binance hack drew a pointed Stellar joke from former Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz, according to U.Today’s October 30 report. Behind the remark is a more consequential story: reported XRP losses, frozen RLUSD and uncertainty about how much money can actually be recovered.
Key Takeaways
- U.Today reports that Schwartz joked about receiving unwanted XLM after another industry figure described missing Binance balances.
- The outlet puts the reported theft at $6.3 billion to $6.36 billion across 10 blockchain networks.
- Its account distinguishes stolen native XRP from RLUSD that Ripple reportedly froze.
- Market data shows broad losses, but doesn’t establish how much selling the incident caused.
What happened in the reported Binance hack
In its report published at 09:54 UTC on October 30, U.Today described Schwartz responding to EasyA co-founder Dom Kwok. According to the outlet, Kwok said attackers had emptied his balances while leaving Litecoin untouched.
Schwartz turned that complaint into a dig at Stellar: he joked that attackers had instead deposited “an extra 517 XLM” into his Binance account. The remark framed receiving the rival token as an unwelcome outcome; it should not be read as confirmation of an actual transfer.
U.Today connects the joke to the longstanding Ripple-Stellar rivalry, noting that Stellar was created by former Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb. The humor is separate from the question of what evidence establishes the reported theft.
The available source material contains no direct Binance incident statement, transaction records or original posts from the people quoted. Its account therefore supports reporting these claims with attribution, not treating every detail as independently established.
Background and context
The financial stakes extend well beyond the XLM punchline. U.Today reports that attackers removed 233.46 million XRP, valued at about $296 million in its October 30 account, from Binance hot wallets.
The outlet says native XRP cannot be forcibly frozen at the XRP Ledger protocol level. That does not, on its own, establish that every possible recovery route is closed: the report provides no evidence resolving what investigators or exchanges might subsequently recover.
RLUSD presents a different case. According to U.Today, Ripple senior vice president Jack McDonald said the company identified movements of stolen RLUSD and blocked the attackers’ addresses. The same report says Binance co-founder Yi He thanked Ripple for freezing roughly $200 million in RLUSD.
That contrast matters more than the Binance hack joke. In this account, native XRP’s lack of a protocol-level freeze differs from an issuer’s ability to restrict a stablecoin. Neither feature, by itself, establishes whether an exchange customer will be reimbursed.
U.Today also reports that approximately $3 billion had been frozen across ecosystems. The report does not establish that those funds had been returned, nor does it provide a reconciled breakdown of customer losses or completed repayments.
Market context
The Binance hack report coincided with a broad cryptocurrency decline. CoinGecko’s snapshot, dated October 30, 2026, at 19:02 UTC, showed BNB falling more sharply over the preceding 24 hours than either Bitcoin or XRP.
| Asset | Price, USD | 24-hour change |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $76,622 | -5.13% |
| Ethereum | $2,228.85 | -4.24% |
| BNB | $696.83 | -6.26% |
| XRP | $1.24 | -3.56% |
Those figures describe market performance, not a proven causal link. The data doesn’t isolate incident-driven selling from other influences, and the evidence includes no XLM price snapshot with which to assess Stellar’s performance.
Alternative.me’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered 30, classified as Fear, on October 30. That adds sentiment context, but doesn’t establish why individual holders traded. Neither the index nor the price data resolves the exchange-security and recovery questions raised by the report.
What to watch next
A useful Binance hack update would distinguish assets removed, funds frozen, funds returned and outstanding customer claims. Those categories shouldn’t be treated as interchangeable. The available reporting does not establish completed customer reimbursement.
Attribution also remains provisional. U.Today says blockchain investigators linked the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor, also described in its account as Lazarus. However, the available material doesn’t name those investigators or include their supporting evidence.
Original transaction records and direct official statements would help assess those claims. Without them in the available evidence, both the reported scale and the recovery position require careful attribution.
FAQ
What did David Schwartz say about the Binance hack?
According to U.Today, he joked that attackers added XLM to his account, turning another user’s reported losses into a jab at Stellar. The joke does not confirm a real deposit.
Can stolen XRP be frozen like RLUSD?
U.Today says native XRP cannot be forcibly frozen at the protocol level, while Ripple reportedly blocked addresses holding stolen RLUSD. That distinction doesn’t establish eventual recovery outcomes.
Has the reported stolen money been recovered?
U.Today reports roughly $3 billion frozen across ecosystems. Its account doesn’t establish that this amount has been returned to Binance customers.
Sources
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile; always do your own research before investing.
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