Both FTX and FTX.us were hacked. My understanding is that these are two entirely separate companies. FTX.us was continuing to server its users, was not involved in the Binance deal, had not had liquidity problems, and so on. They were an entirely separate company with separate wallets, separate databases, a separate back end, etc.
And so what is the likelihood of a random attacker breaking in to two entirely separate exchanges at the exact same time? Almost zero. And what is the likelihood of an attacker simultaneously gaining access to the accounts needed to push malicious app updates as well as the accounts needed to put malware on their website as well as both exchanges' wallets and private keys? Even closer to zero. This is almost certainly an inside job, the way I see it. And with that, any shred of hope that FTX users had of recovering even a portion of their assets is gone.
Just a heads up: a lot of people might probably say that this is unlikely a "hack" and that some FTX personnel(regardless if it's SBF or not) is just running away with the funds(and I agree that this is highly more likely), but regardless — don't open the FTX website and uninstall all FTX apps. JUST TO BE EXTRA SURE.
I don't know how FTX works (and I suppose it depends on the specifics of your bank/jurisdiction), but it is possible that FTX has permission to pull funds from users' linked bank accounts or cards to execute buy orders. Users need to make sure they revoke all access, if they haven't already when they went bankrupt. I'd also be concerned about the security of my other private keys and sensitive data which is present on any device which has since accessed/used/downloaded FTX software.
don't trust exchanges with more than a few hundred bucks
Don't trust exchanges. FTFY.
If they are thinking they be safe with Binance then they are messing about.
Exactly this. FTX was the 2nd(?) biggest exchange. If they can simultaneously go bankrupt and also scam all their users, then any other exchange (Binance included) can do that too. Any coin not in your own wallet is not yours.
It's currently harder to trust which exchanges are safe for us plebs.
Here's a simple way to find out: Is the exchange centralized/custodial? If yes, then it isn't safe.