Bitcoin held up better than expected after exchange hack
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Written by
Simonas Brazionis - Updated 2026-11-03 06:44:33
Following the substantial $6.3 billion Binance hack, Bitcoin held up better than expected, according to Strive CEO Matt Cole. Cole asserted that the security breach does not compromise the cryptocurrency's long-term investment thesis, drawing a parallel between the incident and a bank robbery rather than a fundamental failure of the Bitcoin network itself.
As of Saturday at 4:00 pm, Bitcoin was trading near $77,400, approximately 4% below its price prior to the attack on Thursday, based on CoinGecko data. Strive, a publicly traded company with Bitcoin on its balance sheet, reported holding 43,000 BTC as of October 23.
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Bitcoin's Resilience and Market Outlook
Cole expressed conviction that the event does not alter the investment thesis for Bitcoin over any reasonable timeframe. He noted that Bitcoin's decline was less severe than anticipated given the magnitude of the breach and prevailing market weakness, although he acknowledged that it was premature to determine if the cryptocurrency had reached a price bottom.
Cole characterized the market as being in an “early spring” recovery phase, potentially lasting six to nine months, with a gradual price increase rather than a rapid surge to new highs.
Distinction from Network Compromise
Paul Chapman, financial crime director at Wirex, also differentiated the Binance attack from a compromise of the Bitcoin network, emphasizing that the attack targeted a company's systems, not the network itself.
The Binance breach, with approximately $6.3 billion affected, represents the largest cryptocurrency hack on record, surpassing the combined losses of the next nine largest hacks, according to Glassnode. This exceeds the previous record of the $1.5 billion Bybit exploit in February 2025. Glassnode further indicated that three of the ten largest crypto hacks have occurred since the beginning of 2025, all targeting exchanges.
Exchange Vulnerabilities and Attack Mechanics
In comparison to the Bybit hack in 2025, Bitcoin experienced a roughly 5% decline from nearly $100,000 to approximately $95,000 amidst the breach and market volatility, as per a Bitfinex market report. Anchorage Digital data cited by CNBC suggests that Bitcoin's average decline in the first 24 hours following previous crypto exchange exploits has been 8.3%.
The Binance hack highlights vulnerabilities in exchange security. Blockaid CEO Ido Ben-Natan suggested that attackers may have compromised Binance's transaction signing process. Binance stated on Friday that its ongoing investigation had not yet found evidence of leaked wallet private keys. Blockaid's analysis identified an Ethereum transaction containing 50 signed authorizations, which allowed attacker-controlled code to operate through the wallet, suggesting that pre-signing checks could have prevented the malicious authorization.
