Binance Hack Hits $6.3B, Dragging Bitcoin Below $78K

TL;DR

• Bitcoin fell more than 3% to around $77,400 on Friday after briefly approaching $76,000.

• Crypto liquidations reached $1.5 billion, with leveraged long positions suffering most of the losses.

• Binance said a security incident affected approximately $6.3 billion in assets, with a compromised engineer’s laptop identified as a possible entry point.

• Standard Chartered expects further near-term weakness until more information emerges and the status of frozen assets becomes clearer.

Bitcoin Leads Broad Crypto Selloff

Bitcoin declined sharply on Friday as security incidents involving Binance and Polymarket unsettled cryptocurrency markets.

BTC traded around $77,400, down more than 3% over 24 hours, after briefly falling toward $76,000 earlier in the session. Ether, BNB, XRP, and Solana recorded somewhat larger percentage declines.

The retreat triggered substantial losses in leveraged derivatives markets. Total liquidations reached approximately $1.5 billion, with long positions accounting for most forced closures.

Bitcoin positions represented $468 million of the total, followed by Ether at $358 million. Together, the two assets accounted for approximately $826 million in liquidations.

Binance Investigates Incident Affecting $6.3 Billion in Assets

Binance said Thursday that a security incident affected roughly $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets.

The reported scale exceeds the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025. However, the value of affected assets is distinct from any final, unrecoverable loss, particularly as issuers move to freeze funds.

Binance said the suspected breach may have involved a compromised engineer’s laptop that enabled unauthorized withdrawals. The cause remains under investigation.

Binance's initial investigation suggests that the security incident may involve a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. We have found no evidence of any wallet private key leak. We will share a detailed technical post-mortem once the investigation is complete and the facts are fully verified. The estimated total impact sits at around $6.3B. We have worked with blockchain partners to freeze affected assets, with ~$3 billion frozen on-chain so far. Binance will cover all losses from the SAFU fund and the company’s funds. User funds are safe. We will also publish an updated Proof of Reserves once the remediation is complete. As an immediate precaution, Binance has: - temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while security checks are completed; - revoked the affected address authorisation; - engaged law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover funds. Our teams are working around the clock to resolve this issue safely and thoroughly. We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of these criminals and bring them to justice. Please rely only on official Binance channels for updates. Please feel free to contact Binance Customer Support if you have any further questions. https://t.co/ywB2mKFy0p

— Binance (@binance) October 30, 2026

Former CEO Changpeng Zhao also said the activity appeared to be a hack. Zhao no longer manages the exchange but remains a shareholder.

Separately, Polymarket suspended international trading on Thursday after attackers reportedly drained more than $2.6 million from user accounts.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company froze more than $1.567 billion in USDT linked to the Binance incident.

Tether froze more than 1.567B USDT related to a potential Binance exchange hack. Protecting the industry and our partners is our main priority. Stay safe everyone.

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖 (@paoloardoino) October 29, 2026

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said more than $800 million in associated USDC had been frozen in coordination with law enforcement.

First Digital CEO Vincent Chok also said FDUSD taken in the attack had been frozen, although he did not disclose an amount.

“We’re working alongside the Binance team and will share updates as we have them,” Chok said. “Our priority is protecting FDUSD holders and stopping bad actors from moving stolen funds.”

The freezes restrict the movement of the affected tokens but do not establish that the assets have been returned.

Standard Chartered Warns Selling May Continue

Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, said the incidents could keep cryptocurrency prices under pressure.

“I suspect the negative price action still has some way to go,” Kendrick wrote in an email. “Only after assets are unfrozen and more details of the hack emerges will we find a new base.”

He argued that Binance’s difficulties could eventually accelerate a shift toward decentralized exchanges and encouraged investors to reconsider Uniswap once conditions stabilize.

Kendrick maintained his $100 price target for UNI for 2030. That remains a long-term analyst forecast rather than an indication of near-term performance.

His thesis centers on decentralized platforms gaining trading share from centralized exchanges as investors reassess custody and operational risks.

HYPE Rallies While Other DEX Tokens Decline

Decentralized-exchange tokens largely fell alongside the broader market despite Kendrick’s longer-term outlook.

UNI declined more than 3% over 24 hours. Aster, Pump.fun’s PUMP, Jupiter’s JUP and Litentry’s LIT also traded lower.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE was a notable exception, gaining 17%. The rally followed an announcement that Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, was partnering with Trade.xyz to bring Hyperliquid-powered perpetual futures trading to the United States.

The planned offering remains subject to regulatory approval.