Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, said financial institutions should adopt artificial intelligence as a security tool against increasingly sophisticated threats. His comments followed the $6.4 billion theft from Binance on Oct. 29, which the FBI attributed to North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking group. Zhao, who no longer runs Binance, has warned that attackers may gain access to AI capabilities faster than exchanges and banks can build defenses and has called for common security standards or an industry alliance. He did not discuss North Korea or provide evidence that AI enabled the breach. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic found that the stolen funds appeared to move through automated scripts, with no evidence that an AI agent made laundering decisions. Zhao said an initial $3.6 billion in withdrawals represented about 2% of Binance’s holdings, implying roughly $180 billion in assets. Binance CEO Richard Teng separately reported $10.97 billion in withdrawals and $5.28 billion in net outflows over a 46-hour period ending Tuesday, while saying hourly deposits had begun exceeding withdrawals.