Bitcoin slides below $77,000, BNB drops amid Binance hack

Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $77,000 late Thursday, alongside declines in other major cryptocurrencies, as the Binance exploit intensified a market-wide sell-off.

The world's largest cryptocurrency dropped 4.5% over the past 24 hours to trade at $76,664 as of 10:00 p.m. ET Thursday, according to The Block's bitcoin price page. 

BNB (BNB), the native cryptocurrency that powers the Binance ecosystem, lost 7.1% to change hands at $698.65. Ethereum slid 5.2% to $2,190, while XRP fell 7% to $1.21.

Crypto liquidations totaled $1.55 billion over the past 24 hours, with 246,482 traders liquidated, according to CoinGlass data. Those included $1.34 billion in long positions. The largest observed liquidation order was on Binance-BTCUSDT, valued at $11.09 million.

The crypto market decline coincided with a major Thursday hack at Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated that roughly $5.9 billion was stolen at the time of the theft.

"The Binance exploit has intensified market-wide selling, with BNB facing the greatest exposure. About $1.5 billion in 24-hour liquidations, predominantly long positions, has amplified pressure on BTC and ETH," Dominick John, analyst of Zeus Research, told The Block.

"Market recovery hinges on Binance restoring confidence in exchange security and customer funds," John added.

Analysts see 'contained' market fallout

However, Rick Maeda, head of Markets at Laevitas, suggested that the market reaction to the Binance hack appears to be "fairly contained" and that the BNB's drop was "quite modest for possibly the largest exchange theft ever."

"The exchange's $144 billion assets under custody, the fact that they paid a $4.3 billion penalty to the U.S. government in 2024 for AML breaches with no issue, as well as the swift responses from stablecoin providers such as Tether and Circle to freeze over $2.4 billion have all contributed to the lack of panic across the industry," said Maeda.

Jeff Ko, chief analyst of ViaBTC, shared similar views. "I don't expect the stolen BTC to add much selling pressure," said Ko. "The broader crypto market was already leaning bearish, which is why the sell-off spread so quickly across the board. That said, I believe Binance can absorb the loss comfortably."

Covering user losses

Binance said on X that the currently verified frozen amount from the hack is around $3 billion. Binance Co-CEO Yi He also said that the exchange will cover all user losses resulting from the hack.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Coinbase is "doing everything we can to support in the current situation," including blocking transfers to compromised wallets. 

"Moments like this call for the industry to work together," Armstrong added.