Binance Hack Sends Bitcoin Below $77,000, Rattling Global Crypto Markets

The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant downturn, with Bitcoin falling below $77,000, following a major security breach at Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. The breach is estimated to have affected approximately $6.3 billion in assets.

By 6 am UAE time on Friday, Bitcoin had dropped 4.5 per cent in 24 hours to $76,664, according to The Block. Ether saw a 5.2 per cent decline, reaching $2,190, while BNB, the native token of Binance, slid 7.1 per cent to $698.65. Later in the morning, prices showed some recovery. At 7:51 am UAE time, CoinGecko data indicated that bitcoin was trading at $77,984, a 2.2 per cent decrease over 24 hours. Ether was down 3.2 per cent at $2,230, and BNB was 3.9 per cent lower at $716.69.

The crypto industry has suffered substantial losses due to scams and hacks, amounting to over $22.7 billion since 2011. In the 24 hours preceding the report, more than $1.5 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, with the majority being bets on price increases, as reported by The Block, citing CoinGlass data.

Dominick John of Zeus Research commented to The Block that the Binance exploit exacerbated market-wide selling, with BNB bearing the brunt of the impact. Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, initially estimated the theft at around $5.9 billion, according to CoinDesk. TRM Labs has strongly linked the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group.

Approximately $3 billion has been frozen, including over $2.3 billion in stablecoins. Binance co-chief executive Yi He assured that the exchange would cover all losses, though deposits and withdrawals remain suspended. Rick Maeda of Laevitas noted that BNB's decline was relatively modest considering the potential scale of the theft, attributing this to Binance's $144 billion in assets under custody and the swift freezing of stablecoin funds.

In a separate incident, prediction market Polymarket briefly halted trading on Thursday due to user reports of unauthorized withdrawals linked to a compromised third-party provider. There is currently no evidence to suggest a connection between the two events.