Binance details how hackers pulled off $6.3 billion breach, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block's newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Tuesday! Bitcoin is trading higher around $77,650, recovering from an initial drop after the Binance hack, even as other security breaches, including at Mercado Bitcoin, have emerged.

In today's newsletter, Binance reveals how hackers used a fake job interview and an internal AI tool in its $6.3 billion breach, the CFTC approves individual stock perpetual futures trading in the U.S. for the first time, NEAR governance approves a cut to token issuance, and more.

Meanwhile, Ethereum Layer 2 Aztec gets an upgrade and Justin Sun seeks sanctions against World Liberty Financial.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Latent, our sister website covering AI. Get The Latent Daily here and all other The Block newsletters here. Also, follow The Block and The Latent on X for more updates.

Binance details how hackers pulled off $6.3 billion breach

Binance said hackers used a fake job interview, malware, and a compromised internal AI tool to gain access to its wallet infrastructure and steal $6.34 billion in digital assets.

• The attackers first targeted a wallet engineer in June, then compromised another employee through a fake recruitment process in September.
• In October, they used the infected computer and internal AI tool to access other engineers' devices before deploying a malicious script that launched the wallet attack.
• Binance said it has frozen or intercepted about $2.85 billion in assets and replenished 98% of the affected assets.
• The exchange has rebuilt affected systems and strengthened security controls. It also said it prevented 57 suspected North Korea-linked cyber threats this year.
• Separately, Binance cofounder and former CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao called for a crypto security alliance as AI-driven attacks accelerate following the Binance hack.

Prediction markets bet on Democrats sweeping Congress

Bettors on Polymarket and Kalshi priced in Democrats taking control of both the House and Senate ahead of polls closing in Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections.

• Polymarket gave Democrats a 94% chance of winning the House and 76% for the Senate, while Kalshi showed 94% and 75%, respectively.
• A shift in parties is pivotal since Democrats are likely to then lead key committees, driving the agenda.
• For crypto, that could mean that Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown could lead panels overseeing the digital asset industry.

CFTC approves individual stock perpetual futures in US for first time

The CFTC approved U.S. exchanges to offer perpetual futures contracts tied to individual stocks for the first time.

• Chairman Michael Selig said both the CFTC and SEC would oversee the contracts. The CFTC had previously opened the door to bitcoin perpetual futures trading in the U.S.
• Perpetual futures contracts have also caught Trump's attention. In August, he said he wanted the CFTC to work to bring Hyperliquid into the U.S.

NEAR governance approves cut to token issuance ceiling

NEAR Protocol's House of Stake approved a proposal to reduce the network's maximum annual token issuance rate from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months.

• The change aims to reduce token dilution and long-term selling pressure while retaining the existing 90/10 split of newly issued tokens between stakers and the protocol treasury.
• The proposal still requires Security Council review, a 90-day grace period, and a validator upgrade before taking effect.
• NEAR previously cut the maximum issuance from 5% to 2.5% in October 2025.

Ark Invest buys Coinbase, Circle and Robinhood shares

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest bought $3.4 million worth of Coinbase shares, $2.6 million worth of Circle, and $645,820 worth of Robinhood on Monday.

• Meanwhile, the firm sold 104,172 shares of Bullish, worth $2.3 million.

In the next 24 hours

• The U.S. will release October's ADP employment report, September's trade balance data and October's services PMI reports on Wednesday.
• The eurozone will release October's preliminary inflation figures and final services and composite PMI data on Wednesday.
• Momentum (MMT), BounceBit (BB), and Nym (NYM) are among the tokens scheduled to unlock on Wednesday.

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