Binance’s CZ Shares Hot Take on North Korean Hacker Bitcoin Data: $1.16 Billion BTC

Changpeng Zhao, better known within the crypto community as CZ, the former CEO of Binance that remains its largest shareholder, has published a comment about the news of North Korean hackers’ Bitcoin holdings.

The hacker community known as Lazarus Group now holds more than a billion worth of Bitcoin, which makes it the third largest state Bitcoin holder in the world.

CZ jokes about North Korean “crypto reserve”

X user @Berit1p, a Binance product advisory council member, shared a screenshot to an Arkham Intelligence page, showing the total Bitcoin holdings of a North Korean group of hackers called Lazarus Group.

According to the Arkham data, these hackers backed by North Korea’s government hold a mind-blowing $1.16 billion, which is 13,518 BTC. @Berit1p stated that thanks to a Bitcoin stash that large, North Korea is now the third largest Bitcoin holder among governments – after the US and UK.

According to the same data source, the UK government holds 61,245 BTC worth $4,055,461,003. Arkham revealed that in 2018, the UK metropolitan police confiscated 61,000 BTC from Jian Wen and Zhimin Qian. Those gentlemen allegedly bought the BTC from an investment pyramid organized in China between 2014 and 2017, hiding it from Chinese authorities. The UK police gained access to the Bitcoin in July 2021.

As for the US government, it currently holds $16,928,463,649.57 worth of crypto, including not only Bitcoin but also ETH, BNB, WBTC, TRX, SAND. The amount of Bitcoin held by the US government totals 198,109 BTC valued at $16.52 billion.

Different ways to build a strategic crypto reserve. 😂

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) March 17, 2025

CZ jestingly commented on the aforesaid tweet, saying: “Different ways to build a strategic crypto reserve,” adding a “face with tears of joy” emoji.

CZ warns against minting new crypto

In a tweet published earlier today, Binance visionary CZ issued a warning to developers against minting new coins unless they have “scale.” His post constituted an “unpopular opinion” about AI agents and the crypto utility they may employ.

CZ tweeted that “while crypto is the currency for AI, not every agent needs its own token.” He said that existing cryptocurrencies are good enough for AI agents to take fees in them when they provide any service to users: “Not every agent needs its own token.”

On AI agents, I have an unpopular opinion:

While crypto is the currency for AI, not every agent needs its own token.

Agents can take fees in an existing crypto for providing a service.

Launch a coin only if you have scale. Focus on utility, not tokens.🙏

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) March 17, 2025

“Launch a coin only if you have scale. Focus on utility, not tokens,” CZ stated.

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