Binance Hack Knocks $100 Billion Off Cryptocurrency Market Value

A record security breach affecting approximately $6.3 billion in assets at Binance sent the cryptocurrency market lower, wiping about $100 billion from its total market value.

The Binance security breach triggered a cryptocurrency sell-off and renewed concerns about the security of digital-asset exchanges. [Photo: Binance]

The incident occurred at a point when the broader crypto market was approaching the timing of previous bear-market bottoms, according to Jared Blikre’s report for Yahoo Finance.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange said the breach began late Thursday and affected approximately $6.3 billion in assets.

Binance pledged to cover customer losses, while blockchain investigators attributed the attack to North Korean-linked hackers.

The estimated amount affected is more than four times the approximately $1.5 billion stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in February 2025, previously one of the largest recorded crypto thefts.

The incident prompted a sharp decline in digital-asset prices.

According to CoinMarketCap data cited by Yahoo Finance, the total cryptocurrency market value fell from nearly $2.7 trillion before the breach to below $2.6 trillion by midday Friday.

Ether and BNB, the cryptocurrency associated with Binance’s ecosystem, fell more sharply than Bitcoin during the week.

The broader market had reached a record value of nearly $4.3 trillion on October 7, 2025. By October 31, 2026, it was approximately 39% below that peak.

Previous major crypto bear markets reached their lowest points about 11 to 13 months after their respective peaks: January 2015, December 2018 and November 2022.

The Binance breach occurred nearly 13 months after the October 2025 market peak.

The closest historical comparison may be the collapse of FTX.

The cryptocurrency exchange halted customer withdrawals on November 8, 2022, roughly a year after the market’s 2021 peak.

The overall crypto market value reached its low about two weeks later.

Six months after the FTX withdrawal freeze, the total cryptocurrency market value had recovered approximately 18%, while Bitcoin had gained about 40%, according to Yahoo Finance calculations.

However, the historical comparisons do not establish that the current market has reached a bottom. The Binance breach adds another source of uncertainty to an already declining market.