I am a user of binance so this information is very helpful. Though every time you go to their site, there's always notification as seen below that make sure you are visiting the official binance site. Scammers will always find a way how to screw users. As a user, you should always be cautious of what site you are visiting and entering your credentials.

There has been numerous breaches concerning cryptocurrency service-related accounts for a while now, the biggest probably being Ledger. Phishers are most likely using the emails collected from those breaches, not necessarily emails collected from a Binance breach(which hasn't happened yet, as far as I know).

Quick answer: It's not. It never was.

Of course, that is so rational to think that the source of information can possibly be Binance itself so there is a possibility of it being hacked again...but then it is also possible that hackers use a software that can be sending SMS to random numbers who it thinks may have an account in Binance - yes this is also a big possibility in fact anything can be possible as far as hacking or frauds can be concerned. This is just one of the many risks that we are all facing everyday while in cryptocurrency so we have to be careful all the time never to ever click any link that can lead us to a fake site pretending to be the real one.

Exchanger = Not your keys, not your custody on the coins.

While on the other hand, if its your own keys then its your own custody and coins. Remember that, at any point if you send the coins to an exchanger then its gonna be stored on their online servers, they can be breached, and you could loose everythig.

As far as I know Binance do try their best to keep the safeguard of their exchanger. However, it is still not our custody that is the main point.

Simply have the coins in your Wallet. May be a on an unused device or buy hardware wallets. Best!

Its good to have someone preach about the best practice of the security of our crypto assets because we never listen or learn from other people's mistakes, and this message coming from Binance CEO should carry some weight.


Btw Changpeng Zhao aka CZ is still Binance CEO... thought he was stepping down after continued pressure from regulators??? Whatever the case good to see that his still sticking around.

Those sending these fake SMS messages don't necessarily need leaked data from Binance. They can use any of the crypto databases (such as that of Ledger) that are being sold over the darknet or have been leaked publicly. Ledger's and Shopify's leak have enough mobile phone numbers to carry out all kinds of nasty things.

Since Binance is one of the biggest and most-widely used crypto exchanges, many people interested in cryptocurrencies have probably used it at least once in their life. Many of those who got their data leaked included. They are just sending SMS messages to as many potential victims as possible hoping that enough of them will be tricked. It's been a long time since I used Binance, but I don't remember ever receiving an SMS or giving them my phone number. Usually a code is sent to your registered email that you have to enter together with your 2FA. Maybe an SMS feature can be activated in the account settings as well.   

Unfortunately, phishing scams are very common with crypto exchanges and wallets, so one just has to be extra careful every time one accesses it. Emails can't be trusted, as often even corporate email impostors are a thing (if the company doesn't enable the necessary security against such attacks). As for phone numbers, somehow they often get known to scammers, and it goes beyond the crypto area (at least, in my country). It's good that the CEO is warning people because they need to be reminded regularly, but doing one's own due diligence is as important as this.

He'll never review that as that'll make them look bad and weak, he always want to protray his exchange as the best out there with the abbreviation, SAFU which means Secure Asset Fund for Users. Binance uses this to decieve their customers into thinking their funds are better stored on their exchange instead of their personally wallet but that's all false. As others have highlighted, coins you don't have control over aren't yours.

Centralized exchange can always caused discomfort to your coins on their platforms like delay withdrawal or restrict you access to your own funds. You can lose it all if you trust this third parties. Getting a personal wallet is very easy to obtain, there shouldn't be any reason why you still using the service of exchange as wallet for storing of your coins. And in regards to KYC, these too aren't secure, infact nothing is secure on a centralized exchange.