Bitcoin fell below $77,000 for the first time in more than a month on Friday, as concerns over cryptocurrency security intensified following a record $6.3bn theft linked to Binance on October 29.
The cryptocurrency dropped by as much as 3.1 per cent to $76,300, while Binance’s BNB token lost about five per cent over 24 hours, trading at around $700.
Other digital assets, including tokens affected by the security breach, also recorded declines.
Described as the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, the incident has heightened scrutiny of security measures at major digital-asset exchanges.
Binance holds more than $135bn in assets on its platform, according to data from DefiLlama. The reported scale of the theft has raised concerns about the exchange’s security measures and its ability to safeguard customer funds.
In response to the incident, Binance disclosed on Friday that it had set aside $6.34bn in company funds.
The October 29 breach resulted in the theft of more than $6bn in cryptocurrency from digital wallets held at Binance, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft on record.
The attack reportedly exploited an engineer’s laptop, enabling hackers to gain access to a service container and initiate unauthorised withdrawal transactions.
Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals to carry out security checks, revoked authorisation linked to the affected address and began working with law enforcement agencies and blockchain intelligence firms to investigate the breach and support efforts to recover the stolen funds.
