Binance Hack: Why Bitcoin Didn't Crash Like It Did in 2018

In brief

• Bitcoin dipped to about $76,400 on Friday, roughly 6% below its post-Fed level, after Binance's record $6.4 billion hack, versus a fall from $10,740 to $9,690 in minutes in March 2018 over an attack that Binance said stole nothing.
• Crypto's market value has grown from more than $400 billion in March 2018 to roughly $2.6 trillion, and U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs now hold roughly 1.3 million coins.
• Binance says it has set aside more than $6.34 billion to cover losses, about $3 billion is frozen, and withdrawals should resume in 45 hours.

Bitcoin is down about 4% a day after the biggest crypto hack on record. In March 2018, a failed attack on the same exchange knocked nearly 11% off its price in minutes, and Binance said at the time that no funds had been stolen.

Binance has confirmed yesterday's attack, and Chainalysis and TRM Labs put the theft at roughly $6.4 billion, more than four times the previous record hack: the $1.5 billion Bybit heist of February 2025. Bitcoin dipped to about $76,400 on Friday, around 6% below where it traded after Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision.

More than $1.3 billion in leveraged bets was liquidated, meaning trades placed with borrowed money that exchanges close automatically when prices move against them. And yet Bitcoin is holding relatively steady, all things considered.