Binance loses market share to rivals after $6.3B hack

Binance's share of crypto spot trading fell to its lowest level in at least 12 weeks after the record $6.3 billion hack on October 29, according to Kaiko data first reported by Bloomberg. OKX, Coinbase ↘ 7.62% and Kraken all picked up share. The shift suggests that Binance has absorbed the largest crypto theft on record without a collapse, but has still lost some of its lead in digital-asset trading.bloomberg.com

Rivals Gain Ground

Over the past seven days, Binance accounted for about 42% of spot trading volume across the top 10 platforms, Kaiko's data show. That was down from around 48% before the hack and roughly 51% in mid-August, The Business Times reported, carrying Bloomberg's story. OKX made the biggest gain on higher spot volume, rising to about 14% from roughly 11% the week before. Coinbase's share grew to 9.6% from about 9%.businesstimes.com.sg

Outflows Begin to Ease

Binance suspended withdrawals after the attack and restored them on Sunday, November 1. A spokesperson said customers have since pulled a net $5.6 billion, about 3.5% of the exchange's total assets. The company said it held $157 billion in assets as of Monday, November 2, based on internal estimates that account for the hack, the withdrawals and price swings. It had put the figure at $171 billion on Sunday. Pressure now appears to be easing. "By around 3.00 UTC on Tuesday, hourly deposits began exceeding hourly withdrawals, reflecting improving user activity and a normalisation of flows," the spokesperson said.businesstimes.com.sg

On the day withdrawals reopened, Binance saw a net outflow of $3.64 billion, according to AFP. Before that, the exchange said it had used its corporate treasury to replace 90% of the stolen assets and pledged to cover the rest.afp.com+1

A Record Heist

Most of the theft took place in about 20 minutes, starting shortly after 2000 GMT on October 29, as funds were drained from the hot wallets Binance uses to process transactions, Reuters reported. About half of the stolen assets were stablecoins, which issuers including Tether and Circle ↗ 1.20% have since frozen. TRM Labs estimated that about $2.4 billion in Bitcoin ↘ 4.50% and Ether Ethereum ↘ 5.15% is beyond recovery.reuters.com

The FBI has blamed TraderTraitor, a hacking group sponsored by North Korea, for the attack. North Korea denies the charge. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said its analysis "supports the FBI's attribution specifically to the North Korean state-linked group TraderTraitor". Crypto prices fell when news of the hack broke, and BNB ↘ 3.25%, the token native to Binance, dropped sharply.afp.com+2