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News · Oct 31, 2026 · 4 min read

Bitcoin today: Binance sets aside $6.34 billion, bitcoin slips under $77,000 in a tech selloff

Binance says it has $6.34 billion set aside to cover the theft and is aiming to reopen withdrawals by Sunday. Bitcoin dipped to $76,400 as a tech selloff hit the same day. A coin still costs about a quarter of its price to make.

Firsthand card: "Bitcoin today: Binance sets aside $6.34 billion, bitcoin slips under $77,000 in a tech selloff"

Binance has set aside $6.34 billion and is aiming to reopen withdrawals by Sunday

Binance says it has put more than $6.34 billion of its own funds and reserves behind customer balances after Thursday's theft, according to CoinDesk. About $5 billion of that is already held in the stolen tokens, and the rest is being bought on public markets and over the counter so reserves match losses. Partners have frozen about $3 billion of the stolen assets, which is separate from the $6.34 billion.

Withdrawals remain suspended and deposits are open. Co-CEO Richard Teng said Binance was "very hopeful that users will be able to withdraw prior to our Sunday deadline", The Block reported, and an initial proof-of-reserves report is due on Monday 2 November. Chainalysis, Elliptic and TRM Labs all point to North Korean hacking groups, though Binance has not named anyone. How the theft happened, and where the 18,270 stolen bitcoin sits, is in our standalone piece on the hack.

A $6.34 billion promise, and the first test of it comes on Sunday.

Washington's answer is a push for rules on offshore exchanges

President Trump said on Friday he was looking into the hack, adding "But it's a hack", and CFTC Chair Michael Selig told CNBC that "these are unregulated offshore exchanges", per The Block. Selig said the theft "proves our exact point in proposing regulations for crypto markets earlier this month": on 5 October the CFTC proposed a federal framework for leveraged retail crypto trading and a registration category for the exchanges that offer it.

The Digital Chamber wrote to House and Senate leaders on Friday urging them to give the CFTC authority over crypto exchanges before this Congress adjourns. The Clarity Act, which passed the House in 2025, is still stalled in the Senate.

Bitcoin dipped to $76,400 as a tech selloff landed on the same day

Bitcoin fell to an overnight low of $76,400, its lowest since 18 September, and was near $77,350 when CoinDesk wrote it up. Futures traders were forced out of $1.57 billion of positions across crypto, $522 million of it bitcoin. In our series bitcoin closed Friday at $77,802, against $81,275 on Thursday, and was at $77,313 on Saturday.

The hack was not the only thing selling. Intel fell about 28% at the open on weak guidance, and the Nasdaq was down 3.4% by mid-afternoon in New York, according to CoinDesk's live blog, which put bitcoin down 8.4% for October at that point. A tech and AI selloff and an exchange theft landed within hours of each other.

Chart: Futures positions force-closed each day, longs below the line. The 29 and 30 October bars are the hack and the tech selloff; the last bar is a partial day. Open the chart

ETFs took in $17 million on Thursday, before the theft

US spot bitcoin ETFs took in $17.2 million on Thursday 29 October, their fourth day of inflows in a row, on our ETF flows chart. CoinDesk notes that figure came before the theft began, so Friday's flows, due Monday, are the first read on how the funds reacted.

Analysts called it painful but not 2022

Cantor Fitzgerald's Ramsey El-Assal wrote that "this is painful, but it is not 2022" and that Cantor "would be buyers on weakness", while TD Cowen's Lance Vitanza said "we do not stop using dollars when a bank is robbed", per CoinDesk. Compass Point said it was watching the $75,000 to $77,000 range. Coinbase shares fell about 12% on Friday.

Strategy's finance chief is leaving as its preferred shares change

Strategy CFO Andrew Kang resigned for personal reasons and leaves on 5 November, with Reza Virasteh joining CEO Phong Le as co-principal financial officer from 1 January, CoinDesk reported. The company held 848,517 bitcoin on 25 October. Separately, The Block says dividends on its STRC preferred shares start accruing daily on 1 November, a change analysts expect to help it resume bitcoin buying.

What it means for miners

Nothing in the hack changes how many coins a machine makes. Difficulty does, and it rose 5.54% on Thursday, so a petahash earned 0.000427 bitcoin on Friday against 0.000445 on Thursday on our hashprice chart.

On our best case, an Antminer S23 XP Hyd at 8.9 J/TH on Nigeria's 3.9¢ power, electricity makes a bitcoin for about $19,500 at today's hashprice, against $77,313 in our series on Saturday. That is a quarter of the price, electricity only, and output is not guaranteed. A lower market price is when a machine like that stacks the most coins per dollar spent, and the coins are the part a miner keeps.

About $19,500 to make a bitcoin, $77,313 to buy one.

Sources and further reading

Disclosure

Firsthand Bitcoin sells and hosts mining hardware, including this machine. No manufacturer, distributor or affiliate programme paid for or reviewed this page and we take no commission on the links above. Historical figures are computed from daily bitcoin price and network hashprice, each day valued at its own prices. Nothing here is investment advice.