Bitcoin drops below $77,000 as the Binance hack rattles crypto markets

Bitcoin fell close to 5% and dropped below $77,000 after the theft of about $6.3 billion from Binance came to light on October 29, with BNB, the token of the Binance-linked BNB Chain, falling further.

How prices moved

In the hours after the theft began at 20:05 UTC on October 29, according to Elliptic, Bitcoin fell 4.8% to below $77,000, ether 5.7%, Binance's BNB token 8% and the lending token AAVE 11%, CoinDesk reported. CoinGecko hourly data show Bitcoin fell from $80,769 at 20:00 UTC on October 29 to $76,666 at 02:00 UTC on October 30, about 5.1%. CoinDesk did not name the price source behind its figures.

Asset	Move reported	Source
Bitcoin	−4.8%, to below $77,000	CoinDesk
Bitcoin	$80,769 (20:00 UTC Oct 29) → $76,666 (02:00 UTC Oct 30), −5.1%	CoinGecko (hourly)
Ether	−5.7%	CoinDesk
BNB	−8%	CoinDesk
AAVE	−11%	CoinDesk

BNB's larger drop

BNB is the native token of the Binance-linked BNB Chain, CoinDesk noted. CoinDesk did not give a reason for BNB's larger drop.

Why it matters

A theft of this size at the largest crypto exchange by trading volume raises three questions for markets at once: whether the exchange stays solvent, whether the stolen coins will be sold, and whether users will pull funds. In our assessment, Binance's statement that it would cover user losses, together with the stablecoin freezes that immobilized a large part of the haul, addressed the first two in the following days.

What it could mean for traders

In our assessment, shocks centered on one exchange tend to show up first in that exchange's own token. Withdrawal pauses can also leave prices on the affected venue out of line with other markets. Bitcoin's path afterward was uneven: it climbed back above $80,000 on November 4, after the US midterm elections, then fell to about $74,000 by late November 8, according to CoinGecko data; see what drove the November slide.