Rep. Maxine Waters Demands Crypto Accountability Following $6.3B Binance Hack

House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) called for stricter cybersecurity, financial crime rules, and consumer protections following a reported $6.3 billion hack of cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Oct. 30 ¹. The exploit represents the largest hack in crypto history and has been reportedly attributed to North Korean state-sponsored threat actors, according to an official statement released by Waters ¹. The incident follows wider industry discussions after North Korean Hackers Stole $6.36 Billion From Binance in the Largest Crypto Heist.

According to Waters, millions of Binance customers are currently unable to access or withdraw their digital assets while the exchange scrambles to secure billions of dollars to reimburse affected users ¹. Waters criticized former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans for pursuing a deregulatory agenda that she argued undermines industry compliance mandates and federal oversight ¹. She also highlighted political connections, stating that the Trump family maintains questionable ties to Binance ¹.

Regulatory Scrutiny on Past Enforcement Actions

In her statement, Waters alleged that Binance owner Changpeng Zhao provided more than $2 billion to the Trump family's World Liberty Financial initiative ¹. She asserted that following this transaction, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins dismissed the regulatory agency's fraud lawsuit against Binance and Zhao ¹. Waters further noted that Trump issued a full pardon to Zhao, which permitted the executive to resume active involvement across the digital asset sector ¹.

Waters stated that Committee Democrats will continue advocating for robust consumer safeguards, tougher anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity mandates, and heightened oversight across the crypto industry ¹. At the time of writing, $BTC traded at $77,307, while $ETH was priced at $2,241.