Bitcoin fell about 4% in the day after Binance suffered what Chainalysis and TRM Labs valued at roughly $6.4 billion in stolen funds. The theft marked the largest crypto hack on record, exceeding the $1.5 billion Bybit heist of February 2025.
Bitcoin dipped to about $76,400 on Friday, around 6% below its price after Wednesday's Federal Reserve decision. More than $1.3 billion in leveraged bets liquidated as prices moved against them.
In March 2018, a different attack on Binance knocked nearly 11% off Bitcoin's price in minutes, though Binance said no funds were stolen. That attack involved phishing and account takeovers where attackers created API keys and used them to pump Viacoin while coordinated accounts sold. Bitcoin fell from $10,740 to $9,690 within minutes and continued dropping to about $6,600 by April 5.
Several factors explain the muted response this time. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs now hold roughly 1.3 million BTC, about 6% of the supply. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust took in $136 million on Wednesday, per Farside Investors. These funds do not keep coins on Binance and do not panic sell easily, with positions locked for extended periods.
The entire crypto market was worth just over $400 billion in March 2018 and is worth roughly $2.6 trillion now. Back in 2018, CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed index sat at 12 points, deep in "extreme fear" territory, when the attack occurred. That index dropped to 36 points after this week's theft, moving from "neutral" to "fear" territory.
The attacker still holds more than 420,000 ETH and 18,270 BTC, about $2.4 billion that stablecoin issuers cannot freeze. Binance says it has set aside more than $6.34 billion of company funds to cover losses and is buying missing tokens on the open market and over the counter. About $3 billion in stolen funds is frozen, deposits operate normally, and withdrawals are on track to resume in 45 hours.
TRM and Chainalysis tie the attack to the North Korean group behind the Bybit heist. Market sentiment was already soft before the theft, with Glassnode data showing long-term holders underwater on about 4 million coins bought between $85,000 and $118,000.