Bitcoin steadies near $77,400 as Binance pledges $6.34B to cover hack

Bitcoin is holding near $77,384 after Binance said it has set aside $6.34 billion of its own funds to cover losses from the record hack. The pledge has not reversed the sell-off, but prices have stopped falling for now, with the 24-hour drop at 5.22%.

Since our last update, the story has moved from the size of the loss to who pays for it and who did it. CoinDesk reports that Binance reserved its own funds to cover the roughly $6.3 billion theft, and that about $3 billion of stolen assets have been frozen. Decrypt puts the hack at $6.4 billion, so figures vary slightly by source.

Bitcoin

According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin trades at $77,384. It is down 5.22% over 24 hours and 5.9% over seven days. The 24-hour range runs from $76,443 to $81,840, so most of the move came from the top of that range. Trading volume reached $178.8 billion.

Cointelegraph reports that Bitcoin held above $76,000 and that momentum indicators pointed to a possible rebound. That is the outlet's reading, not ours. Chart BTC/USD.

Ether and the majors

Every major fell. Solana and Cardano are the weakest over seven days. BNB, the exchange's own token, lost 6.6% in 24 hours. Chart BNB/USDT.

Breadth and sentiment

Total crypto market value stands at $2.624 trillion, down 6.7% in 24 hours. Bitcoin dominance is 59.2% and Ether dominance is 10.4%.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index reads 30, or "Fear". It was 51 a day earlier. Over the prior week it stayed in a neutral band between 48 and 54, so this is the sharpest one-day shift in the period.

What drove the market

• Attribution. Decrypt reports that TRM and Chainalysis both tie the hack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group, which they blame for the Bybit hack.
• Recovery. Binance is working with the FBI to recover the roughly $3 billion that is frozen, according to Cointelegraph. Decrypt reports that CEO Richard Teng said the attack was "not a single 'one-click' action" and that Binance found additional points of breach.
• Liquidations. CoinDesk says futures liquidations jumped to $1.57 billion.
• Tech stocks. CoinDesk reports that weak earnings outlooks and AI spending concerns pushed the Nasdaq down more than 2%, adding to crypto jitters.
• Ethereum's role. Cointelegraph cites security experts saying EIP-7702 did not cause the hack but may have amplified losses. CoinDesk says the attacker used the 2025 upgrade with 50 signatures from Binance's own wallet.
• Hacker holdings. The attackers held 18,270 BTC and more than 500,000 ETH early Friday, Cointelegraph reports.
• Analyst view. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, TD Cowen and Compass Point say the hack is unlikely to derail the market's recovery, per CoinDesk.
• Strategy. CoinDesk reports that CFO Andrew Kang resigned as the company posted $21 billion in quarterly operating income and holdings of 848,517 BTC.

What to watch next

1. Proof of reserves. Binance says it holds $5 billion in matching tokens and will include the reserved assets in its next proof-of-reserves report, according to Cointelegraph.
2. Frozen funds. Progress on the FBI-assisted recovery of about $3 billion.
3. Exit routes. Cointelegraph notes that North Korean hackers previously used THORChain to move stolen funds, and RUNE rose 13% after the hack. Any large movement of the 18,270 BTC or the Ether stash is a key risk to monitor.
4. Tech earnings. Whether the Nasdaq weakness CoinDesk described persists.