Molly White
Role at the time: Independent writer and cryptocurrency researcher
Statement summary
White questions why Zhao, whom she describes as barred from any control over Binance, is the one promising that losses will be covered.
“Why a person who is barred from any control over Binance would be the one promising this is an exercise I will leave to the reader.”
Molly White's post on her Citation Needed site. She questions Zhao's role in promising that losses would be covered and writes that Binance would otherwise have to draw on its own balance sheet. White revised the post on October 29 and 30 as estimates changed. It was first headlined "Attacker gets away with up to $3 billion from Binance"; the current headline reflects a blockchain analytics firm's attribution of the theft, which we have not verified. The passage quoted appears in the version archived at 03:34 UTC on October 30.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
Relative to the assurances that users would be covered, White criticizes Zhao for giving them, pointing to what she describes as a bar on his control of Binance.