Bitcoin Loses 8.4% in October as Month Nears End, Against Historical Average
Key Facts
Bitcoin fell 8.4% in October, according to an update published by CoinDesk less than 36 hours before the month ended, when its price stood at $76,300. The performance puts the cryptocurrency on a path that diverges from its usual October record, which has historically been associated with gains in most years. The figure, however, was not the month's closing result, as it appeared in an update issued before month-end. Pressure in the final days of the month coincided with reports of a security incident at Binance and a broader decline in cryptocurrency markets. But the available facts do not establish that either fund flows or the security incident caused the loss for the entire month.
CoinGlass data cited by CoinDesk show that Bitcoin ended 10 of the 13 Octobers between 2013 and 2025 higher, with an average return of 18.5%. The record highlights the gap between current performance and the historical trend, but it does not mean October always ends with gains. CoinDesk's update reporting an 8.4% loss was also published before the month closed, so it does not describe a single final result. Farside data showed net outflows of $643.2 million from U.S. spot Bitcoin funds on October 30. That figure covers a single session, while daily flows were mixed, so it does not by itself establish that funds drove the monthly decline.
In a separate development, Binance said its preliminary estimate of the incident's total impact was about $6.3 billion, and that its partners had helped freeze about $3 billion in affected assets on-chain by the time of its announcement on Thursday, October 29. The company said its initial investigation pointed to the possible involvement of a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. It added that it had found no evidence that private wallet keys had been leaked. In a later update, Binance said the attack on hot wallets occurred at about 20:05 UTC on October 29. It also said it had allocated more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses, and had covered about 80% of the affected value as of its October 30 update.
The tension was reflected in price movements during the final sessions of the month. The Associated Press reported that Bitcoin fell 3.2% on Thursday evening to below $79,000, coinciding with reports of the security incident. In an update published Friday, the news agency said the cryptocurrency was below $77,000 after surpassing $86,000 earlier in the month. The report placed the decline within a broader sell-off in technology stocks, amid concerns that gains in AI shares had outpaced what earnings expectations justified. This provides a contemporaneous context for market movements without isolating the impact of the Binance incident from other factors. The coincidence of the price decline and the outflows also does not establish a causal relationship between them.
Binance later said it had allocated assets in the same currencies to cover 90% of the lost assets and pledged to fully compensate customers. In an October 31 update, the company said coverage of affected assets had risen to 90%, and that it expected to make full proof of reserves available by November 3, following preparation taking about 40 to 50 hours. It announced that BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC assets were fully covered by reserves. It also said it was still targeting a resumption of withdrawals on Sunday, November 1, subject to confirmation of the details. The company had announced a temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals to conduct security checks, freeze funds and cooperate with law enforcement.