This Week in Crypto (October 26–November 2): $6.3 Billion Vanishes From Binance in 20 Minutes, Bitcoin Posts Its Worst October Since 2014, and a 10 ETH Bug Blocks North Korea's Exit

The largest theft in crypto history took about 20 minutes. On October 29, attackers drained $6.3 billion from Binance's hot wallets, and by Saturday the FBI pinned it on North Korea. Bitcoin fell to $76,400, October closed as the worst month for the asset since 2014, and the Fed held rates in a split vote that landed one day before the chaos. This week in crypto was a stress test — for exchanges, for markets, and for one protocol that accidentally became the story's moral question. Here's everything that mattered.

The week at a glance

Binance lost $6.3 billion in 20 minutes, and $3 billion was frozen before midnight

Between 4:05 and 4:24 p.m. ET on October 29, attackers swept $6.36 billion from 17 Binance hot wallets across ten blockchains — $3.8 billion on Ethereum alone, plus 18,270 BTC worth $1.5 billion. The FBI confirmed on November 1 that North Korea's TraderTraitor was responsible, the same operation behind last year's $1.5 billion Bybit hack.

On X: @_RichardTeng — Binance CEO: "Binance will absorb the financial impact of these stolen funds, not our users."

The attack exploited EIP-7702, an Ethereum upgrade that lets wallets temporarily act as smart contracts. Attackers signed 50 authorizations in advance and funded an operator wallet through Tornado Cash, turning a Binance hot wallet into a sweeper they controlled. On the other nine chains, ordinary signed transfers were used — pointing to a compromise of the exchange's signing infrastructure. Investigators suspect a DevOps engineer's laptop, staged at least 36 hours before the theft.

On X: @zachxbt — "total frozen for the Binance exploit so far to over $2.83B."

Tether and Circle froze wallets within an hour. By October 31, Binance said it had replenished 90% of losses from its SAFU fund, insurance, BTC reserve and corporate treasury. Withdrawals resumed November 1; $3.6 billion left the exchange within hours. The practical difference between custodial and non-custodial wallets has never been sharper — our seed-phrase guide walks through what self-custody actually requires.

Bitcoin posted its worst October since 2014

BTC opened the week near $80,000, briefly touched $81,250 after the Fed held on October 28, and then the Binance hack pulled the floor out. On October 30, bitcoin fell to $76,400 — a six-week low — as crypto liquidations jumped fourfold to $1.57 billion in 24 hours per CoinGlass. Of that, $522 million was BTC and $361 million was ETH.

On X: @KobeissiLetter — Binance wallets saw outflows of "$5.7 billion" across Ethereum, Bitcoin and TRON.

Spot bitcoin ETFs compounded the selling: a $643 million outflow on October 30, the largest since June, erased all of October's inflows and left the month at a net loss of $515 million. Bitcoin closed October at about $77,420, down 7.3%. Our liquidation guide explains how forced selling compounds a move once it starts. By November 1, BTC had recovered to roughly $78,230, but the damage to October's record was done.

The Fed held 10-2, and Warsh wants fewer meetings with votes

On October 28, the FOMC voted 10-2 to hold the target range at 3.75%–4.00%. Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented in favor of a 25-basis-point hike — Cook's first dissent since joining the Board in 2022. The statement upgraded the committee's assessment of economic activity from "solid" to "strong."

On X: @federalreserve — official FOMC statement.

The bigger structural story came from Chairman Kevin Warsh. He announced the FOMC will drop one rate-voting meeting in 2027, replacing it with a strategy-only session — no vote, no policy statement. In 2028, two meetings become strategy-only.

Warsh said he would like to eliminate forward guidance altogether. Fewer scheduled decision points mean each remaining meeting carries more weight for markets. BTC reclaimed $81,280 briefly after the announcement — then the Binance hack arrived.

The kicker: a 10 ETH bug accidentally blocked North Korea's exit

And because crypto's biggest week needed one more twist: a bug did what the FBI had not yet managed. On October 31, a one-block Ethereum chain reorganization caused THORChain to issue a double refund on a 10 ETH deposit. The protocol's solvency checker caught the shortfall and halted cross-chain swaps across ten chains — and in doing so, accidentally blocked the laundering route TraderTraitor was using to move Binance hack proceeds.

On X: @chainalysis — "THORChain just inadvertently delayed the laundering of a significant amount of funds stolen from Binance."

That same day, the FBI issued a joint alert urging THORNode operators to block addresses tied to the stolen funds. THORChain founder JP Thor responded: "IMO if THORNodes decided to take the protocol offline next week then the experiment is over." It is a live test of a question DeFi has debated in theory for years — whether permissionless infrastructure can or should cooperate with law enforcement when the stolen amount is $6 billion. Our piece on why bridges keep getting hacked covers the structural pattern underneath.

Also this week

• Tether posted $1.5 billion in Q3 net operating profit on October 31, with excess reserves nearly doubling to $7.95 billion. Total reserves reached $191.5 billion, including $132.4 billion in U.S. Treasuries and $8.37 billion in Bitcoin.
• Coinbase reported Q3 net income of $719 million on October 29, ending a three-quarter losing streak. Revenue fell 35% year over year to $1.22 billion; the profit was driven largely by $715 million in unrealized crypto gains.
• China's Communist Party adopted a resolution on October 29 targeting corruption linked to virtual currency and blockchain. State media cited former DCEP institute head Yao Qian taking 2,000 ETH in bribes, worth over 60 million yuan at peak.

What to watch next

U.S. midterms land tomorrow, November 3. The MSCI November 11 index list and the EBA's November 12 USDC supervision takeover carry over from last week. Watch for Binance's proof-of-reserves snapshot, THORChain's decision on whether to block stolen-fund addresses, and the CFTC's voluntary-registration comment period closing December 14. For anyone reassessing where their assets sit after this week, Coin98 Super Wallet generates keys on-device and supports self-custody across 100+ blockchains.

Last updated: November 2026