Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply after Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, disclosed a security breach that it estimates has affected about $6.3 billion in assets.
Bitcoin had dropped 4.5 per cent in 24 hours to $76,664 by 6am UAE time on Friday, crypto news website The Block reported. Ether fell 5.2 per cent to $2,190, while BNB, the token linked to Binance, slid 7.1 per cent to $698.65.
Prices recovered some ground later in the morning. At 7.51am UAE time, Bitcoin was trading at $77,984, down 2.2 per cent over 24 hours, data platform CoinGecko found. Ether was down 3.2 per cent at $2,230 and BNB was 3.9 per cent lower at $716.69.
More than $1.5 billion of leveraged positions were liquidated in 24 hours, most of them bets on rising prices, The Block reported, quoting CoinGlass data.
“The Binance exploit has intensified market-wide selling, with BNB facing the greatest exposure,” Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, told The Block.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated the theft at about $5.9 billion at the time it happened, crypto news website CoinDesk reported. TRM Labs linked the attack with “high confidence” to North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor.
About $3 billion has been frozen, including more than $2.3 billion in stablecoins. Binance co-chief executive Yi He said the exchange would cover all losses. Deposits and withdrawals remain suspended.
Rick Maeda, head of markets at Laevitas, told The Block that BNB’s fall was “quite modest for possibly the largest exchange theft ever”. He referred to Binance’s $144 billion in assets under custody and the speed with which stablecoin issuers froze funds.
Separately, prediction market Polymarket briefly halted trading on Thursday after users reported unauthorised withdrawals linked to a compromised third-party provider. There is no evidence the two incidents are related.
