Binance Co-CEO addresses US$6.3 billion heist, AI risks and infrastructure at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026

Global regulators, legal professionals and fintech leaders gathered this week at Hong Kong FinTech Week, co-organised by Invest Hong Kong alongside the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Finoverse. Among the most anticipated sessions was a fireside chat with Binanceco-CEO Richard Teng, who returned to a public event of this scale following the recent US$6.3 billion hack that affected the platform’s automated signing infrastructure.

Binance in Latin America

Binance’s rapid regional expansion has made it an everyday financial tool in Latin America. Earlier this year, market data showed that Latin America had surpassed the United States in growth in active cryptocurrency app users, driven by persistent inflation, fiat currency volatility and demand for dollar-denominated assets.

As Binance evolves into a financial “super app”, offering cross-border payments, yield-bearing savings and low-cost fund management, its smooth operation directly affects millions of users, businesses and institutional settlement flows in the region.

Post-attack recovery: infrastructure, OTC liquidity and solvency

Addressing the audience, Teng explained how Binance contained the breach while maintaining regional market stability:

• Infrastructure rehabilitation: The breach pathway was isolated, signing logic was retested and the affected hot wallet equipment was replaced before withdrawals were safely restored.

• Full solvency and zero market slippage: Teng assured attendees that 100% of affected user funds were covered by internal liquidity reserves. To prevent spot market slippage that could distort asset prices globally, including for retail investors in major Latin American markets such as Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, Binance replenished 95% of its liquid token reserves directly and acquired the remaining 5% in less liquid tokens through private over-the-counter (OTC) channels.

• Auditable transparency: Binance reaffirmed its zero-knowledge (ZK) proof of reserves, which allows users to independently audit 1:1 asset backing in real time.

• Regulatory alignment in Latin America: Active cooperation with international law enforcement to trace funds was highlighted, an approach reflected in Binance’s formal regional initiative, under which its local entity BBrasil submitted its VASP licence application to the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB).

Key regulatory information: AI agent risks and 24/7 support

Beyond the immediate crisis response, Teng examined the legal and technical forces reshaping global finance:

1. Risk controls for autonomous AI transactions

Asked whether granting wallet authority to AI agents creates systemic risk, Teng described AI as a double-edged sword:

• Internal compliance: Financial institutions are widely deploying AI to scale KYC (know your customer), fraud detection and threat monitoring.

• Security permissions: As malicious actors use AI to create deepfakes and automated exploits, corporate legal advisers must impose strict permission limits, sandboxing and restricted execution controls before delegating capital authority to AI agents.

2. The transition to 24/7 financial infrastructure

• The agent-based economy: Smart contracts and immutable ledgers serve as the primary settlement layer for economic transactions between AIs, enabling software agents to operate programmatically.

• After-hours liquidity: Teng noted that most US tokenised stock trading takes place outside standard US market hours, and that global demand is forcing traditional platforms (such as NASDAQ, which is moving towards 23-hour daily trading) to adopt 24/7 risk models.

• Back-office redesign: Legacy clearing, settlement and reconciliation processes will increasingly migrate to combined AI and blockchain protocols, replacing traditional banking overheads with automated, real-time systems.

Implications for Latin American legal advisers

Virtual asset platforms have evolved from speculative trading hubs into critical cross-border financial infrastructure. As Binance expands its presence in Latin America, its operational resilience directly affects regional trade. Legal and compliance professionals must closely monitor how platforms balance automated security, AI-based permissions and transparent balance-sheet audits to meet evolving local regulatory requirements.