Morning brief: Binance pauses withdrawals after attack, says it will cover all losses

Binance paused withdrawals at 6:33 p.m. ET Oct. 29 and later said it "will cover all losses," putting the "estimated total impact" at around $6.3 billion, its own estimate. Bitcoin traded at $77,242.52 at 6:21 a.m. ET, down 3.50% over 24 hours. [1][3][4][5]

Stakes / What matters today

• Binance withdrawals: paused since 6:33 p.m. ET Oct. 29; at 4:47 a.m. ET Binance said it is "on track" to resume them "in 45 hours" and had found "additional points of breach." [3][7]
• Prices lower: bitcoin −3.50%, ether −4.07%, BNB −5.36% and Solana −3.77% over 24 hours to 6:21 a.m. ET; total crypto market value $2.594 trillion, −3.03%. The fall began before Binance's first post. [1][11]Powered by CoinGecko API
• Liquidations: $1,598.8 million across CoinMarketCap-tracked perpetuals over 24 hours, about 85% of it longs. [2]
• Sentiment: CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed Index read 36, its lowest daily reading since Aug. 16. [1]

Overnight crypto

Bitcoin was at $77,242.52, ether at $2,220.40 and Solana at $96.25 at 6:21–6:22 a.m. ET, down 3.50%, 4.07% and 3.77% over 24 hours, a window not measured from the prior U.S. cash close. Total crypto market value was $2.594 trillion, down 3.03%. [1]

Bitcoin's share of total crypto market value was 59.88% as of 6:14 a.m. ET. CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed Index, a 0–100 sentiment gauge built from market data, read 36 at 6:08 a.m. ET. That is in its "fear" range and is the lowest daily reading since Aug. 16. [1]

Figure 1. Top 10 by market cap, excluding stablecoins and meme coins, CoinMarketCap quotes as of 6:21–6:22 a.m. ET Oct. 30:

Data: CoinMarketCap.

Hyperliquid's HYPE token (+15.71%) and TRON's TRX (+0.75%) were the only gainers in the table. [1]

Liquidations

Forced closures of leveraged positions totaled $1,598.8 million across all CoinMarketCap-tracked perpetuals, futures contracts with no expiry, over the 24 hours to 6:21 a.m. ET. By Le Coin's calculation from CoinMarketCap data, crypto perpetuals accounted for up to $1,431.3 million, with longs at $1,208.3 million, and non-crypto perpetuals such as stocks and metals for $167.5 million. The crypto figure is a ceiling: it subtracts only the non-crypto entries in CoinMarketCap's top-250 list. This window includes Thursday's 4:30–5:20 p.m. ET selloff and is not comparable to the 5:19 p.m. ET figure. Bitcoin led crypto at $559.0 million, then ether at $342.2 million and Solana at $100.2 million. [2]

Figure 2. Liquidations, 24 hours to 6:21 a.m. ET Oct. 30:

Data: CoinMarketCap.

What printed

01 · Binance pauses withdrawals after attack, says it will cover all losses. At 6:33 p.m. ET Oct. 29, Binance said its team was "conducting security checks" and that withdrawals would resume "as soon as the security issue is fully resolved." [3] At 8:13 p.m. it said "Binance will cover all losses" and that it was working with law enforcement. [4] At 10:25 p.m. it said its initial investigation suggested "a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop," meaning a computer used by staff who run its systems, let an attacker "submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions"; it found "no evidence of any wallet private key leak." The same post said "the estimated total impact sits at around $6.3B," with "~$3 billion frozen on-chain so far," and that losses will be covered from the SAFU fund, Binance's user-protection reserve, and company funds. [5] At 12:36 a.m. it said deposits "continue to operate as normal." [6] At 4:47 a.m. it said its later investigation "uncovered additional points of breach," that it remains "on track" to resume withdrawals "in 45 hours," and that it has frozen "around $3 billion thus far." [7] There has been nothing new from Binance since 4:47 a.m. ET, and the DOJ, SEC and CFTC have made no statement. [8] Bitcoin and BNB began falling about 4:30–4:45 p.m. ET, before Binance's first post at 5:15 p.m.; Le Coin does not attribute the move to the incident. [11] Powered by CoinGecko API

02 · SEC charges two firms over an alleged $130 million scheme built on false filings. The SEC on Oct. 29 charged BG Wealth Sharing Ltd and DSJ Exchange Pty Ltd, which it calls "foreign-operated, Colorado-incorporated entities," in federal court in Northern California. It alleges that from at least October 2025 through June 2026 they raised more than $130 million from "tens of thousands of retail investors" by promising returns from crypto trading "signals," and filed false Form ADV and Form D filings, an adviser registration and a private-offering notice, to look approved by the SEC. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement, meaning repayment of alleged gains, and civil penalties. These are allegations; the court has made no findings. [9] Le Coin report

03 · Stablecoin Development Corp. books Q3 profit on SKY token gain. Stablecoin Development Corp. (NYSE American: SDEV), which holds about 10% of the SKY token supply, reported third-quarter net income of $50.4 million, or $0.23 a share. Almost all of it came from a $58.8 million non-cash unrealized gain as SKY rose about 49% in the quarter; staking revenue, rewards earned for locking tokens, was $2.1 million ($6.8 million for nine months). It held 2,321,079,862 SKY at Sept. 30, worth $180.2 million against a $149.3 million cost basis, and about 2.33 billion at Oct. 26. It sold no tokens, raised about $45.9 million net through its at-the-market program, which sells new shares into the market, after quarter end, and said it had no debt outstanding at Sept. 30. [10]

Open items

• Binance: withdrawal restart, which Binance says is "on track" for "in 45 hours" from 4:47 a.m. ET; a promised technical post-mortem and an updated Proof of Reserves. [5][7]

Holding the Corner.

Not financial advice.