Bitcoin rose by about 1% today, recouping part of the losses from the largest theft in crypto history. Still, the asset remains roughly 4% below Thursday's highs before Binance disclosed the hack. The token briefly dipped below $77,000 earlier, but buyers quickly stepped in. Given the scale, roughly $6.3 billion taken from exchange wallets, the muted market reaction surprised many.
Bitcoin's resilience reflects how quickly Binance moved to absorb the hit. The exchange immediately pledged to cover the losses, removing the primary fear — insolvency. Clearly, Binance has the balance sheet capacity to make good on that promise. That helps affected users and supports the token, though it frustrates leveraged sellers who expected a deeper liquidation.
Compare this with 2022: following FTX's collapse, Bitcoin plunged by 19% in three days because that episode involved a move from liquidity shortfall to bankruptcy and clear fraud. Today's event is different. The market treated the Binance incident as an operational shock, not a systemic collapse. TRM Labs has linked this hack — and the Bybit heist in 2025 (~$1.5B) — to the North Korean group "TraderTraitor." While the theft's scale is roughly four times larger this time, the price reaction was far softer.
I view the bounce toward $78,000 as fragile, not a confirmed reversal. The Bybit case is instructive: initial reactions were muted, and a week after that attack, Bitcoin still ended up about 14% lower. Add the US elections on Tuesday, which could influence crypto regulatory legislation, and a return to selling pressure and another test of the $77,000 zone is plausible in the coming days. A confident close above $80,000 will likely require both a favorable electoral outcome for crypto policy and a reduction in option-based demand for protection.
Technical analysis and recommendations
Bitcoin
Buyers are targeting a move back to $78,500, which would open a path to $79,900 and then toward $81,700. A break above which would signal attempts to restore the bull market. On the downside, look for buyer interest near $76,900. A decisive break below that area could push BTC toward $75,300, with a deeper target at about $72,800.
Ethereum
Consolidation above $2,331 would open a route to $2,398, with a further target around $2,455. A break above this level would confirm strengthening bullish sentiment and renewed buyer interest. On the downside, buyers should step in near $2,276. A break below that level could drive ETH toward $2,230 and, on extended weakness, to about $2,176.
What's on the chart:
- Red: support and resistance zones where the price may either slow or accelerate
- Green: 50-day moving average
- Blue: 100-day moving average
- Light green: 200-day moving average
Crosses of — or the price tests of — these moving averages typically either halt moves or set the next market impulse.
