Bitcoin slides toward $77,000 after $6.3 billion Binance exploit and wave of liquidations

Binance has confirmed the breach, which it called the biggest the crypto industry has seen; its reported size is about $6.3 billion. Bitcoin sold off in response, reaching a six-week low according to one report, with another market roundup putting the trough at about $76,400, before the price held above $76,000. The sources do not state the exact time of the attack.

Leveraged positions were hit hard. Reports cite $1.52 billion to $1.57 billion in liquidations over 24 hours, with about $1.36 billion of the lower figure coming after the attack. Long positions made up nearly 90% of the total, and roughly 240,000 traders took losses. Ether also fell.

Analysts quoted by CNBC tie the comparatively modest fall to the fact that the breach hit an exchange and not the bitcoin network itself. Even so, an exchange breach can damage confidence in custody and trading venues and spill over into other crypto assets. A sell-off in tech stocks was also cited as a concurrent pressure.

Options flow points to caution. Large traders reportedly executed about $590 million notional in BTC options blocks on Paradigm over eight hours after the hack, chiefly puts struck close to the current price. Analysts read this as hedging against a near-term pullback and not as a bet on a deep crash. Some momentum indicators hint at a possible rebound.