Briefs · Evening brief
Evening brief: Binance targets withdrawal restart in about 34 hours; Tether reports Q3
Binance says it targets to start resuming withdrawals in about 34 hours, phased, with a first proof-of-reserves snapshot due in 12 hours; bitcoin closed the U.S. session at $76,826.39 on CoinGecko's 4:00 p.m. ET 5-minute print; and a BDO report puts Tether's excess reserves at $7.95 billion.
Binance says its tech team "targets to start resuming the withdrawal service within approximately 34 hours, subject to the completion of security checks," on a phased approach. In its second incident update, posted on binance.com and stamped 3:33 p.m. ET, the exchange said it plans an initial proof-of-reserves snapshot "in 12 hours" with the result "ready by Monday 2026-11-02." [1]
Bitcoin closed the U.S. session at $76,826.39 on CoinGecko's 4:00 p.m. ET 5-minute print, down 4.32% on a rolling 24-hour basis. Crypto long liquidations led shorts over the 24 hours to 4:13 p.m. ET, at $1,241.1M versus $186.9M. [2][4]
Binance: second incident update
The update, signed by co-CEOs Yi He and Richard Teng, puts the loss at "approximately $6.3B USD worth of token assets." Binance says it will cover the losses through its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and corporate treasury, that it has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds, and that $5 billion of that reserve is held "in the exact impacted token assets," which it says covers "approximately 80% of the impacted amount." It says it is buying the remainder through market and OTC channels. [1]
Binance says about $3 billion "has been frozen on-chain to date." Chainalysis, in its own assessment, puts transfers at about $6.4 billion and frozen funds at about $2.8 billion. [1][7]
On the cause, Binance says its initial investigation "suggested that the incident may involve a compromised laptop," but that later work "uncovered additional points of breach." It says it has "found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked," and expects to share technical findings "within about 48 hours," with a post mortem to follow. Deposits and unaffected services remain running, per Binance. The update does not address Chainalysis's attribution. [1]
Figures as stated by Binance [1]:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total impact | $6.3B |
| Company funds set aside | $6.34B |
| Held in exact impacted tokens | $5.0B |
| Frozen on-chain to date | $3.0B |
| Withdrawal resumption target (hours) | 34 |
| Technical findings due (hours) | 48 |
The 34-hour figure is Binance's target to start resuming, not a reopening. Earlier Friday, at 10:33 a.m. ET, Teng had said withdrawals were hoped for "prior to our Sunday deadline." [9]
U.S. session close
CoinGecko USD prices: Friday 4:00 p.m. ET close (5-minute points) and rolling 24-hour change to about 4:13 p.m. ET. Powered by CoinGecko API. [2]
| Asset | Fri 4:00 p.m. ET (5-min) | Rolling 24h (to ~4:13 p.m.) |
|---|---|---|
| BTC | $76,826.39 | −4.32% |
| ETH | $2,236.70 | −3.29% |
| SOL | $94.68 | −4.22% |
Total crypto market value was $2.59 trillion at about 4:12 p.m. ET, down 3.61% over 24 hours; bitcoin's share was 59.68%, and ether's was 10.56%. On CoinMarketCap's top-10 list, BNB was $699.98, down 5.20% over 24 hours, the weakest in that set. [3]
Movers
Largest rolling 24-hour declines among CoinGecko's top-50 coins by market cap (stablecoins, tokenized gold and cash-like funds excluded), to about 4:13 p.m. ET. Only three of 37 eligible names were up. No catalyst is sourced for the movers. Powered by CoinGecko API. [2]
| Coin | Price (~4:13 p.m. ET) | Rolling 24h |
|---|---|---|
| Ethena (ENA) | $0.1858 | −9.93% |
| MemeCore (M) | $0.9439 | −7.97% |
| Bittensor (TAO) | $232.39 | −6.83% |
| Zcash (ZEC) | $1,225.66 | −6.33% |
| Pump.fun (PUMP) | $0.00406 | −6.19% |
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) led the three gainers, at $288.61, up 2.01%. [2]
Liquidations
Crypto long liquidations totaled $1,241.1M and short liquidations $186.9M over the 24 hours to 4:13 p.m. ET. Liquidations are leveraged positions exchanges forcibly close when margin runs out; figures are USD value across exchanges CoinMarketCap tracks. Data: CoinMarketCap. [4]
| # | Coin (24h price chg) | 24h total | Longs | Shorts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin (BTC) (−4.2%) | $609.5M | $517.9M | $91.6M |
| 2 | Ethereum (ETH) (−3.1%) | $324.1M | $281.3M | $42.8M |
| 3 | Solana (SOL) (−4.0%) | $95.8M | $91.6M | $4.1M |
| 4 | XRP (XRP) (−1.6%) | $38.8M | $36.5M | $2.3M |
| 5 | Zcash (ZEC) (−5.5%) | $20.1M | $15.0M | $5.2M |
Non-crypto perpetual futures liquidations
Non-crypto long liquidations totaled $211.9M and short liquidations $22.1M over the same 24 hours to 4:13 p.m. ET (metals, stocks, ETFs; floor = non-crypto entries in CoinMarketCap's top-250 list). Data: CoinMarketCap. [4]
| # | Contract (24h price chg) | 24h total | Longs | Shorts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gold (XAU) (−3.5%) | $43.1M | $43.0M | $0.2M |
| 2 | Silver (XAG) (−5.7%) | $30.6M | $30.5M | $0.1M |
| 3 | SanDisk (SNDK) (−12.9%) | $27.0M | $23.2M | $3.8M |
| 4 | SOXL (−15.6%) | $22.0M | $21.0M | $1.0M |
| 5 | SpaceX (SPCX) (−5.0%) | $16.3M | $16.2M | $0.1M |
What printed
01 · BDO report puts Tether's excess reserves at $7.95 billion; Tether says Q3 net operating profit was $1.5 billion. BDO's ISAE 3000R assurance report, which Tether calls an attestation and which is not an audit, shows total assets of $191.45 billion and total liabilities of $183.50 billion at Sept. 30, including a $183.47 billion liability for USDT tokens issued. It lists $122.84 billion of directly held U.S. Treasury bills. Tether's release, posted at 1:01 p.m. ET, says the company booked $1.5 billion of "net operating profit" in the quarter and $4.5 billion over nine months; those profit figures are Tether's own and not attested. Tether says the buffer was $4.1 billion at the end of June. Le Coin report: Tether says it made $1.5 billion, mostly from Treasury bills and repo. [5][6]
| Tether, Sept. 30, 2026 | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | $191.45B | BDO |
| Total liabilities | $183.50B | BDO |
| USDT tokens issued (liability) | $183.47B | BDO |
| Excess reserves | $7.95B | BDO |
| U.S. Treasury bills, held directly | $122.84B | BDO |
| Q3 net operating profit | $1.5B | Tether, not attested |
| Nine-month net operating profit | $4.5B | Tether, not attested |
02 · Chainalysis links the Binance attack to North Korea-linked hackers. In its own assessment, Chainalysis attributes the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean group, putting transfers at about $6.4 billion and frozen funds at about $2.8 billion. No U.S. agency has made an attribution, and Binance has not named an attacker. In a 2:46 p.m. ET post, Chainalysis said suspected North Korea-linked hacks "account for nearly 89% of reported crypto hack losses so far this year," versus 15% in 2021. Le Coin report: Chainalysis ties Binance attack to North Korea. [7][8]
Open items
- Binance's first proof-of-reserves snapshot, due "in 12 hours," with results by Mon. Nov. 2. [1]
- Binance's target to start resuming withdrawals within about 34 hours, phased and subject to security checks. [1]
- Binance's technical findings, expected within about 48 hours, and a post mortem. [1]
Sources (9)
- Binance, "Security Incident Update #2 (2026-10-30)," binance.com announcement, Oct. 30, 2026, stamped 3:33 p.m. ET, https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/detail/d3306d9dca5243548c813b605e1d1751 , accessed ~4:20 p.m. ET.
- Prices: Powered by CoinGecko API (https://www.coingecko.com/en/api). market_chart/range 5-minute points at Fri Oct. 30 4:00 p.m. ET; coins/markets top 50 accessed ~4:14 p.m. ET.
- CoinMarketCap Pro API, global metrics and listings/latest, https://coinmarketcap.com , accessed Oct. 30, 2026, 4:14 p.m. ET.
- CoinMarketCap liquidations, 24 hours to 4:13 p.m. ET Oct. 30, 2026, https://coinmarketcap.com .
- Tether, "Tether Generates $1.5 Billion in Q3 Net Operating Profit as Reserve Buffer Doubles to Almost $8 Billion," Oct. 30, 2026, https://tether.io/news/tether-generates-1-5-billion-in-q3-net-operating-profit-as-reserve-buffer-doubles-to-almost-8-billion/ , accessed Oct. 30, 2026, ~1:20 p.m. ET.
- BDO, ISAE 3000R independent assurance report, Tether Financial Figures and Reserves Report as of Sept. 30, 2026, https://assets.ctfassets.net/vyse88cgwfbl/7nQYtcoP9GxIUFSyro2dGK/8d0521470b9e99c8c0831019cabea4ee/ISAE_3000R_-_Opinion_Tether_International_Financial_Figure_30-09-2026.pdf , accessed Oct. 30, 2026, ~1:20 p.m. ET.
- Chainalysis, "The $6.4 Billion Binance Exploit: Tracing the North Korea Link," Oct. 30, 2026, https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/binance-exploit-latest-findings-and-response/ .
- Chainalysis (@chainalysis) on X, Oct. 30, 2026, 2:46 p.m. ET, https://x.com/chainalysis/status/2116240300486349117 , accessed ~4:15 p.m. ET.
- Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) on X, Oct. 30, 2026, 10:33 a.m. ET, https://x.com/_RichardTeng/status/2116176703823528024 .
Holding the Corner.
Not financial advice.