Crypto futures liquidations quadruple to $1.57 billion after Binance hack
Key Facts
Crypto futures liquidations quadrupled to $1.57 billion after the Binance hack pressured prices, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin fell to an overnight low of $76,400 before recovering some of its losses. The Associated Press said the cryptocurrency slid toward $77,000 after topping $86,000 earlier in October. EL7 data showed Bitcoin closed at $77,353.86 on October 30, compared with $77,991.89 the previous day. Its decline coincided with widespread liquidations of leveraged positions, in a wave that spread to Ether and other assets.
Long positions, which bet on prices rising, accounted for the largest share of liquidations in the 12-hour window covered by CoinDesk’s report, citing CoinGlass. Total liquidations in that period reached about $1.37 billion, including $1.23 billion in long positions, as of the morning of October 30. Over the 24 hours to that point, Bitcoin position liquidations totaled about $499 million, compared with $358 million for Ether. Binance alone recorded forced liquidations worth $754.6 million over the same period, including $670.6 million in long positions. The figures show the scale of bullish bets closed as prices fell, but do not cover the same period as the $1.57 billion estimate for futures liquidations.
In the latest hour covered by CoinDesk’s report, short positions accounted for $20.6 million of total liquidations of $21.6 million, or about 95%. This share refers to the latest hour at the time of the report and does not mean it was the final hour of October 30. The report said 30-day implied volatility gauges rose in Asia as demand for put options increased after the hack, before some of those gains later receded. In derivatives markets, trading volume rose 74% to $346.1 billion, while open interest fell 3% to $136.3 billion. The increase in trading and decline in open interest coincided with the closure of a large number of leveraged positions.
The decline spread to stocks linked to the sector; Coinbase shares fell 13.4% and Strategy shares dropped 8.7% in Friday’s session, according to the Associated Press. Bitcoin had fallen toward $77,000 from a level above $86,000 earlier in the month. In a separate report, Reuters said the cryptocurrency hit a six-week low of $76,469.82, down 3%, while Ether fell more than 3% to $2,185.83. An analyst quoted by Reuters also said Binance’s suspension of deposits and withdrawals could affect market makers’ ability to move capital between platforms, potentially weighing on liquidity. 30-day implied volatility gauges rose in Asia as demand for put options increased, before some of those gains faded.
Binance estimated the incident’s total impact at about $6.3 billion and said it had worked with blockchain industry partners to freeze affected assets, with about $3 billion frozen on-chain as of its October 30 update. TRM Labs estimated that the attacker moved about $6.36 billion from Binance wallets across ten blockchains, with most of the activity concentrated over about 20 minutes. TRM attributed the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor unit and said preparations began at least 36 hours before the theft, while the first transfers began on the evening of October 29. TRM’s estimate of the amount moved differs from Binance’s estimate of the incident’s total impact. TRM compared the attack with the February 2025 Bybit hack, which it valued at $1.5 billion, and said the Binance incident was about four times larger.
Binance said it had found no evidence that wallet private keys were compromised and would cover losses from its SAFU fund and company funds. It added that it would publish a proof-of-reserves update after remediation was complete, followed by a technical report once the investigation and verification of the facts were finished. The Associated Press reported that the platform had begun recovering assets for users and that withdrawals were suspended, with service expected to resume within the next day or two following the agency’s October 30 update. AP said deposits were unaffected. The head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered warned in remarks reported by Reuters that price pressure could persist until asset freezes were lifted and details of the hack became clear.