Coinbase: 99% of its customers’ assets in cold storage after Binance hack
Coinbase announced on November 4 that more than 99% of its customers’ assets are held offline, five days after the $6.34 billion hack at Binance. The figure is self-reported, and the fraction that remains online is still considerable.
Coinbase says more than 99% of its customers’ assets are held in cold storage, while hot wallets hold only the liquidity needed for withdrawals.
The platform reported $377 billion in assets as of September 30, which leaves about $3.8 billion outside cold storage.
The percentage has not been verified by a third party, and SOC audits cover controls, not the distribution of assets.
What Coinbase actually revealed
The timing is notable: the drop in Coinbase and Circle shares had already shown the market’s sensitivity to any doubts about custody.
Five days after withdrawals reopened at Binance, where $4 billion had flowed out, Coinbase published the figure. The data appeared on X, alongside a blog post describing its custody practices and stating that asset security is a daily task, not a one-time achievement.
Hot wallets, which are connected to the internet, hold the liquidity needed for withdrawals, while excess funds are moved to offline storage. The institutional custody product operates entirely in cold storage, with assets segregated.
Deposits are backed one-to-one, remain the customer’s property, and are never lent without authorization. Its infrastructure was unaffected by the incident.
The 1% no one is counting
Coinbase reported $377 billion in assets as of September 30. Applying the announced figure puts about $373 billion offline and leaves $3.8 billion in systems connected to the internet.
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