TL;DR

• Cryptocurrency markets extended their losses after Binance reported a major security breach estimated at $6.3 billion.
• BNB declined more than 8%, while Bitcoin approached $77,000 and Ethereum fell below $2,300. More than $1.5 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated as investor sentiment weakened. Binance
• pledged to cover customer losses and confirmed that approximately $3 billion in affected assets had been frozen.

Binance Hack Triggers $1.5 Billion in Crypto Liquidations

The market downturn coincided with reports that Binance had suffered a security breach affecting approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency. The incident triggered substantial liquidations across derivatives markets as leveraged traders struggled to maintain their positions during the sudden price decline.

According to the latest reports, total cryptocurrency liquidations reached approximately $1.55 billion over 24 hours. Long positions accounted for roughly $1.34 billion of that amount, indicating that bullish traders absorbed most of the losses. The largest individual liquidation order identified during the period involved an approximately $11.09 million BTCUSDT position on Binance.

The market reaction also pushed the Crypto Fear and Greed Index down to 30, its lowest reading since August 14, reflecting growing caution among investors. Bitcoin’s decline below $77,000 added to concerns that further forced selling could accelerate the broader correction.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance’s native BNB token all recorded significant losses, with traders reducing exposure amid uncertainty surrounding the exchange’s security incident. According to CoinGecko data reported early Friday, BNB dropped approximately 8.2% over 24 hours to around $693. Bitcoin declined 4.8% to approximately $77,131, while Ethereum lost 5.7%, trading near $2,217. The sell-off also extended to decentralized finance tokens. AAVE fell 11.3% to $118.54, while Uniswap’s UNI declined 10.4% to $6.48.

Binance Pledges to Cover All Customer Losses

Despite the scale of the incident, Binance attempted to reassure customers by promising to absorb all losses resulting from the security breach.

Co-CEO Yi He confirmed that the exchange would cover affected user funds, while the company reported that approximately $3 billion in assets linked to the incident had been frozen.

The exchange also temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while conducting security checks and coordinating with blockchain analytics companies, law enforcement agencies, and cryptocurrency issuers.

Binance’s initial investigation pointed to a potentially compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which may have allowed an attacker to access internal infrastructure and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions.

Bitcoinist previously covered the Binance hack and the estimated $6.3 billion in affected assets.

Aave Introduces Emergency Restrictions as DeFi Faces Pressure

The consequences extended beyond centralized exchanges, with decentralized lending protocol Aave also introducing precautionary measures.

Aave temporarily froze new deposits and borrowing across its community-operated V3 and V4 markets following concerns about activity connected to the Binance attacker.

The protocol clarified that its smart contracts had not been compromised. Users could still withdraw available funds and repay outstanding loans.

Meanwhile, Binance received support from other industry participants, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who said the exchange was working to block transfers involving compromised wallets.

The response highlights how quickly security incidents involving major exchanges can create risks across interconnected cryptocurrency platforms.

Crypto Market Recovery Depends on Restoring Investor Confidence

Although Binance’s commitment to cover customer losses helped address immediate concerns about user funds, uncertainty surrounding the breach continued to weigh on market sentiment.

Some analysts argued that the market reaction remained relatively contained given the estimated size of the theft and the exchange’s substantial assets under custody. Others warned that confidence would depend on Binance restoring normal operations and providing greater transparency about the incident.

For Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency market, the immediate focus remains on whether selling pressure will continue as investigators trace the remaining stolen assets.

The incident also renews questions about centralized exchange security and the risks associated with keeping large cryptocurrency balances on trading platforms.

Until more details emerge, volatility and cautious positioning are likely to remain important factors shaping the market’s next move.

TL;DR:

• THORChain’s RUNE token climbed more than 13% to $0.67 after Binance confirmed a $6.3 billion security breach. The price increase came as on-chain investigators reported that funds connected to the Binance and Bitget hacks had passed through THORChain, bringing renewed attention to the protocol’s role in cross-chain cryptocurrency transactions.
• THORChain’s native RUNE token recorded a significant rally on Friday, gaining more than 13% following news of Binance’s record-breaking $6.3 billion security breach.

According to TradingView data, RUNE climbed to approximately $0.67 from a local low of $0.59 recorded earlier in the day. The price movement came as investigators examined the movement of stolen cryptocurrency through decentralized platforms, including THORChain.

The development has placed the cross-chain protocol back in the spotlight, particularly because it has previously been used to move funds associated with several major cryptocurrency exploits.

Binance Hack Brings THORChain Under Scrutiny

Reports show that funds connected to the Binance breach and September’s $388 million Bitget hack had passed through THORChain before being consolidated at the same Ethereum address.

The Bitget incident has been attributed to TraderTraitor, a hacking group linked to North Korea. Blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis have also linked the Binance attack to North Korean hackers.

Binance estimated the total impact of its security incident at approximately $6.3 billion, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts ever reported.

The exchange said its preliminary investigation pointed to a potentially compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which may have allowed attackers to access internal infrastructure and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions.

Bitcoinist previously examined the massive Binance security breach and its estimated $6.3 billion impact.

THORChain’s Role in Previous Crypto Hacks

THORChain enables users to exchange digital assets across different blockchain networks without relying on traditional centralized exchanges.

However, its permissionless structure has also attracted criticism after stolen cryptocurrency was reportedly moved through the protocol.

Hackers previously used THORChain to move funds connected to the $1.4 billion Bybit attack in February 2025. The protocol was also involved in transactions associated with the Bitget incident.

THORChain rejected the request, explaining that it does not have the technical mechanism to block individual swaps. Instead, node operators can pause trading on an entire blockchain or across the network.

The controversy also created divisions within the THORChain community following the Bybit incident. Core developer Pluto announced his departure after an Ether trading halt was reversed, while validator TCB threatened to leave unless the protocol stopped processing funds linked to North Korean hackers.

RUNE Rally Comes Amid Renewed Security Concerns

Despite the controversy surrounding the protocol, Thorchain’s RUNE’s latest price movement suggests that traders were responding positively to the market developments.

However, the reported rally does not necessarily indicate improved confidence in THORChain’s security or long-term outlook.

The situation instead highlights a growing challenge for decentralized finance platforms. Permissionless infrastructure allows users to move assets freely across blockchain networks, but the same openness can make it difficult to prevent stolen funds from passing through.

For THORChain, the latest Binance incident renews questions about how decentralized protocols should respond when their infrastructure is used to move assets connected to major cryptocurrency thefts.

As investigators continue tracking the stolen funds, attention will remain on THORChain’s handling of suspicious transactions and whether its governance structure can address concerns without compromising its decentralized model.

TL;DR

• Binance hack shows an attacker reportedly used Ethereum’s EIP-7702 authorization feature to drain approximately $2.5 billion from Binance’s Ethereum hot wallet.
• The attacker gained the ability to move funds without repeatedly requesting individual transaction approvals. The incident forms part of a wider Binance security breach estimated at $6.3 billion.
• Binance suffered one of the largest cryptocurrency security incidents on record after an attacker exploited an Ethereum authorization mechanism to drain approximately $2.5 billion from one of its hot wallets.

The attack targeted a wallet identified as Binance 14 and involved Ethereum’s EIP-7702 functionality, which allows externally owned accounts to temporarily execute smart contract code without migrating to a separate smart contract wallet.

According to blockchain analysis, the attacker used a malicious authorization to give a smart contract control over the wallet’s transaction execution. This effectively transformed the exchange’s wallet into an automated fund-draining mechanism.

The incident is part of a broader security breach that affected multiple Binance wallets across several blockchain networks, with estimated losses reaching approximately $6.3 billion.

How EIP-7702 Enabled the Binance Wallet Drain

EIP-7702 was introduced as part of Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade to improve wallet functionality and support features such as transaction batching and account abstraction.

However, the same flexibility can introduce serious security risks when authorization requests are not properly verified.

In Binance’s case, blockchain security analysts reported that the attacker prepared 50 EIP-7702 authorization requests targeting Binance 14. Each authorization was associated with a specific transaction nonce, meaning only one would match the wallet’s current transaction sequence. One of those authorizations was accepted, allowing the wallet to execute code from a malicious sweeper contract.

The binance hack shows the attacker subsequently called the contract to transfer assets out of the wallet. The first major transaction moved approximately 167,464 ETH, alongside roughly $1.6 billion in USDT and dozens of other tokens.

The combined value of the assets transferred was approximately $2.5 billion.

According to Bitquery’s investigation, the attacker continued using the delegated functionality to execute additional transfers over the following hours.

Binance’s Broader Security Breach Reaches $6.3 Billion

The Ethereum wallet incident was only one component of a much larger attack.

Binance estimated that approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency was affected across multiple blockchain networks. Its preliminary investigation pointed to a potentially compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which may have provided access to internal infrastructure and enabled unauthorized withdrawal requests.

The exchange said it had found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked.

Meanwhile, blockchain security companies identified unusual authorization activity and suspicious transaction patterns across the affected wallets.

Binance also coordinated with stablecoin issuers and blockchain partners to freeze portions of the stolen assets. Approximately $3 billion had reportedly been frozen, although the recovery process remained ongoing.

Bitcoinist previously reported on the massive Binance hack and the estimated $6.3 billion impact.

Ethereum’s Wallet Flexibility Raises New Security Questions

The incident highlights an important distinction between introducing more functionality into cryptocurrency wallets and maintaining secure authorization processes.

EIP-7702 offers legitimate benefits for Ethereum users, including more flexible transaction execution. However, delegating execution to external code also means that malicious permissions can create significant exposure if signing systems fail to identify suspicious requests.

The Binance incident does not establish that EIP-7702 itself contains a vulnerability. Instead, it demonstrates how a legitimate protocol feature can become part of an attack when authorization controls are compromised.

For the broader cryptocurrency industry, the incident adds urgency to discussions about transaction verification, wallet permissions, and operational security.

• The Binance hack affected an estimated $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency, exceeding the scale of the $1.5 billion Bybit theft in February 2025.
• Binance said approximately $3 billion had been frozen on-chain through coordination with blockchain partners.
• The exchange announced a temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals while teams carried out security checks and worked with law enforcement.
• Initial findings point to a compromised employee laptop, while Binance pledged to cover losses and said it found no evidence of leaked wallet private keys.

Binance Hack Affects $6.3 Billion in Crypto

Binance confirmed a major security breach affecting approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency, sending fresh uncertainty through digital asset markets on October 30.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume said it was working with blockchain partners to contain the incident. Approximately $3 billion in affected assets had been frozen on-chain, according to its announcement.

The estimated impact is more than four times the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit in February 2025. That attack, attributed to North Korean-linked hackers, had previously set the benchmark for the largest cryptocurrency theft.

However, the $6.3 billion figure represents the estimated assets affected by the Binance hack. The final loss remains uncertain as investigators trace funds and pursue additional freezes.

Binance Suspends Transfers and Pledges to Cover Losses

At approximately 00:30 GMT on October 30, Binance announced that deposits and withdrawals had been temporarily suspended. The exchange said its teams were conducting security checks, freezing funds and coordinating with law enforcement.

Its public updates paired assurances about customer balances with a commitment to absorb losses.

In its security incident update, Binance said coverage would come from its Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, and company funds.

The pledge addresses who would bear the financial impact. Recovering the affected assets and restoring normal operations remain separate parts of the response.

Binance also said the amount frozen could rise as law enforcement agencies, token issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and other partners continued tracing the funds.

Compromised Engineer Laptop Emerges as Initial Lead

Binance’s preliminary investigation pointed to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer.

According to the exchange, that access allowed an unauthorized party to enter a service container and submit withdrawal transactions through internal infrastructure.

Binance said investigators had found no evidence that wallet private keys were