Binance security breach triggers crypto sell-off, says Dominick John
Binance Breach Wipes Out Billions in Crypto Assets
“The Binance exploit has intensified market-wide selling, with BNB facing the greatest exposure,” said Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research.
Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply after Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, disclosed a security breach estimated to affect about $6.3 billion in assets. Bitcoin dropped 4.5 per cent in 24 hours to $76,664 by 6am UAE time on Friday, according to a report by The Block, before recovering slightly to $77,984 later in the morning.
Massive Leveraged Liquidations Sweep the Market
The incident triggered widespread market liquidation. More than $1.5 billion in margin positions were wiped out in a single 24-hour window, with the majority of those liquidations coming from bullish bets on rising prices, according to CoinGlass data cited by The Block.
Chainalysis Estimates $5.9 Billion Theft Linked to North Korea
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated the scale of the theft at roughly $5.9 billion at the time of the event, as reported by CoinDesk. Meanwhile, TRM Labs linked the attack with high confidence to North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor. Binance co-chief executive Yi He stated that the exchange would cover all losses. Approximately $3 billion has already been frozen, including more than $2.3 billion in stablecoins. Deposits and withdrawals on the platform remain suspended.
Industry Response Stabilizes Investor Sentiment
Market response to the theft remained measured in certain segments of the industry. Rick Maeda, head of markets at Laevitas, told The Block that the decline in BNB’s price was quite modest considering the scale of the breach. Maeda pointed to Binance holding roughly $144 billion in assets under custody alongside the rapid response from stablecoin issuers in freezing stolen funds as factors that helped stabilize sentiment.
Polymarket Halt Unlinked to Binance Exploit
In a separate development on Thursday, prediction market Polymarket briefly halted trading after users reported unauthorized withdrawals tied to a compromised third-party provider. There is no evidence linking the Polymarket disruption to the Binance security breach.