Hackers drained approximately $6.36 billion from Binance’s hot wallets in just 20 minutes, according to records from TRM Labs. The breach on the online wallet infrastructure immediately triggered market panic, while Binance has yet to disclose the exact ratio of its cold storage holdings. In response to customer concerns, global crypto exchanges moved in unison to provide transparency regarding their asset allocations between cold storage and hot wallets. This disclosure serves as a direct move by exchanges to demonstrate what portion of user deposits is kept offline.
Reserve Claims from Coinbase to Gate
Coinbase stated that more than 99% of its customers’ crypto assets are held in offline cold storage. The US-based exchange utilizes a routine rebalancing mechanism that automatically sweeps excess hot wallet balances into cold storage without manual intervention.
OKX took a similar approach in its security update. The platform reported that over 95% of client crypto assets are stored in cold wallets, while hot wallet allocations for daily transactions are kept below 5%.
Gate took a different route by introducing its Proof of Security (PoSEC) framework. Gate announced that 88.26% of its total assets are kept in cold storage and 11.74% in hot wallets, figures that are currently undergoing an independent audit review. Under an extreme scenario, Gate claims its cold storage reserves could cover up to 104.58% of total customer deposits even if all funds in its hot wallets were completely drained.
Strict Minimum Thresholds in South Korea
In South Korea, crypto wallet allocations are bound by strict rules set by financial authorities. Data from a September 2026 report to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) confirmed that Upbit, the country’s largest crypto exchange, holds 99.17% of assets in cold storage, leaving just 0.83% in hot wallets. A spokesperson for Upbit’s parent company Dunamu emphasized that the 99.17% ratio is the highest among South Korea’s five major exchanges and comfortably exceeds the 80% regulatory minimum.
FSS filings for other South Korean exchanges also showed compliance above the required threshold. Bithumb posted a cold wallet share of 94.76%, followed by Coinone at 85%. Meanwhile, Digital X, an exchange previously known as Korbit, recorded 82.79%, while GOPAX stood at 80.54%.
Why High Ratios Are Not an Absolute Guarantee
Although cold storage percentages appear reassuring, regulators caution that vulnerabilities remain. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) stressed that high cold storage ratios are not an absolute guarantee of fund safety. Cold wallets still carry risks if transaction-signing systems or internal access controls are compromised.
For crypto holders, this transparency offers a clear picture of the risk management readiness of the exchanges they trade on. While a large cold storage percentage significantly limits an attacker’s reach, the reliability of an exchange’s internal authorization and verification systems remains the ultimate deciding factor.
Reported via Cointelegraph.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
