Bitcoin holds near $77,300 as altcoins rebound after Binance hack

Bitcoin held near $77,281, up 0.44% over 24 hours, as the market steadied after the record Binance hack. Altcoins bounced harder than Bitcoin, while Binance set a Sunday target to restart withdrawals and US regulators used the breach to argue for tighter oversight of offshore exchanges.

Prices below are from a CoinGecko snapshot taken at 00:46 UTC on October 31.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin traded between $76,338 and $78,638 over the past 24 hours. It is still down 4.34% over seven days, with most of that loss tied to the hack disclosure. Trading volume was $201.1 billion and market capitalisation $1,553.7 billion. You can follow the price on the BTC/USD chart.

Cointelegraph reports that Bitcoin risks its worst October in 12 years, as a US tech stock sell-off spread to gold, which fell to its lowest price in a year. Decrypt notes that Bitcoin fell about 3% on the roughly $6.4 billion theft, against nearly 11% in 2018 when Binance was last attacked.

Ether and the majors

Ether rose 1.8% to $2,246.96. Every major on our list gained more than Bitcoin over the day, but all remain lower on the week.

Cardano led the daily bounce but also has the steepest weekly loss. BNB, the token most directly exposed to the hack, recovered 2.74%.

Breadth and sentiment

Total crypto market capitalisation stood at $2.626 trillion. Bitcoin dominance was 59.1% and Ether dominance 10.4%.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 30 (Fear) for a second straight day. It had been Neutral, at 51, on October 28 and 29, and ranged from 48 to 54 in the days before. The small price rebound has not yet moved sentiment.

What drove the market

Binance recovery steps. CoinDesk reports that Binance found a wider breach than first thought, with CEO Richard Teng saying the hackers erased evidence and bypassed security checks. The exchange aims to restart withdrawals on Sunday and publish proof of reserves on Monday.

Race to freeze funds. According to Cointelegraph, attackers rushed to swap stolen stablecoins into crypto that issuers could not freeze, as Tether and Circle moved to immobilise billions. CoinDesk reports that legal experts question whether smaller victims would get the same fast protection.

Regulatory push. CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the theft shows why offshore exchanges should register with the CFTC and adopt US-grade cybersecurity standards, Decrypt reports.

Crypto stocks. Cointelegraph says Coinbase led a sell-off in crypto-linked shares on Friday, with Circle and Strategy also falling sharply. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, TD Cowen and Compass Point told clients the hack is a Binance security failure and unlikely to derail the market's recovery, CoinDesk reports.

Wider risk mood. Decrypt reports Intel shares had their worst daily fall in 50 years after warning of a prolonged PC slump. Our sister site covers how AI spending fears hit tech stocks and the dollar.

Tether results. Cointelegraph reports Tether's excess reserves nearly doubled to $8 billion as third-quarter profit reached $1.5 billion, with its Bitcoin reserves valued at $8.37 billion at the end of September.

What to watch next

• Sunday: Binance's targeted restart of withdrawals, per CoinDesk.
• Monday: Binance's planned proof-of-reserves publication.
• Month-end close: whether Bitcoin books its worst October in 12 years, as flagged by Cointelegraph.
• Policy follow-up: any action on the CFTC chair's call for offshore exchange registration.