Bitcoin’s strength post-Binance hack hides ongoing market unease
In the wake of the unprecedented cyber theft targeting the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally last week, traders anticipating dire consequences have instead observed Bitcoin achieving an astonishing outcome: it has managed to defy the downward pressures typically associated with such events. The original cryptocurrency experienced an increase of approximately 1% on Monday, with trading occurring at around $78,300 at 1 p.m. in Singapore. It has decreased approximately 4% from Thursday’s peak prior to Binance revealing a hack that would ultimately result in $6.3 billion of user funds being syphoned off. The token’s resilience has been largely credited to the prompt action taken by Binance, which assured from the outset that it would cover all losses. “Bitcoin holding up over the weekend is essentially a vote of confidence in Binance’s statements,” said Caroline Mauron. “The market is clearly convinced that Binance has enough funds to cover the losses.”
Bitcoin faced significant pressure last week due to a selloff in risk assets, yet its relative resilience highlights the contrasting approach traders are adopting toward this incident compared to the last major crisis that impacted one of the largest crypto exchanges. In the wake of the 2022 collapse of the second-largest exchange, FTX, Bitcoin experienced a decline of 19% over a span of three days. This downturn coincided with the company’s transition from a liquidity crisis to bankruptcy, under the leadership of former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. Sean McNulty noted that one factor contributing to Bitcoin’s resilience this time is Binance’s acquisition of the token to compensate users. However, the fundamental sentiment continues to be unsettled, he stated. “People see this as the tip of the iceberg and expect more hacks to happen given the AI capabilities,” said McNulty, referring to the use of artificial intelligence in cyberattacks this year. “If Binance, the world’s largest exchange, can be hacked then no one is safe.”
In a reflection of underlying apprehensions, there is an increasing demand for short-term safeguards against a potential decline in Bitcoin. The one-day 25-delta put skew, which indicates the premium traders are willing to pay for protection against a significant decline compared to the cost of betting on a similar increase, increased by approximately 1 percentage point within a 24-hour period, reaching 6.37 points, as per data. Kelly Ye noted that traders are reacting in a manner distinct from their responses to the FTX collapse, which was characterised by fraudulent activities. “The market treated this as an operational shock, not a systemic one,” Ye said, noting that order book depth on Binance dropped 25% to 30%, but that buyers returned within hours. “That’s a very different picture from 2022, when confidence drained out of the whole market.” The near-term influence on cryptocurrency markets may be significantly shaped by the upcoming US midterm elections on Tuesday. A change in party control of Congress “could have meaningful implications for how crypto market structure legislation moves forward,” stated Jeff Ko.
Prior to last week, the most significant crypto-related hack occurred in 2025 on the exchange Bybit, resulting in a loss of approximately $1.5 billion. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has established a connection between the breaches at Binance and Bybit and the North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor. Similar to the situation with Binance, the Bybit hack initially exerted a relatively subdued influence on Bitcoin. In the subsequent days, losses accumulated, resulting in the cryptocurrency experiencing a decline of approximately 14% one week post the February 21 incident. With the latest hack, Ye stated that traders who were optimally positioned to recognise the market disruption as it unfolded had diversified their exposure across various exchanges. “For institutions, the lesson is simple: no single venue is a safe place to hold risk or to read prices,” she said.
