Crypto liquidations hit $627.7 million in a single hour late Thursday, October 29, 2026, after an unexplained outflow of roughly $2 billion from Binance hot wallets set off fears of a major exchange hack. Bitcoin dropped below $79,000 and Ether slipped under $2,240. According to Coinglass data cited by BeInCrypto, $606.6 million of those forced closures hit traders betting on higher prices.
Why it matters
Binance is the largest exchange by trading volume, so even an unconfirmed breach there can move the whole market within minutes. Thursday’s selloff showed how quickly leveraged long positions get wiped out when traders price in the worst case before any official confirmation.
What we know about the crypto liquidations
The first transfer out of the wallet labelled Binance 14 landed at 20:24 UTC, and the sharpest price candles printed within the next 15 minutes, BeInCrypto reported. Citing TradingView, the outlet said Bitcoin traded near $80,800 on Binance at 20:00 UTC, then spiked down to about $78,300 by 20:35 UTC before bouncing back above $79,100.
Ether fell harder. It slid from roughly $2,335 to a low near $2,233, a drop of more than 4%, before recovering to about $2,263. CryptoTicker’s account puts Bitcoin’s move at $80,327 to $78,763, with the low at 21:00 UTC, and says BNB lost up to 6.3% in the same window.
Who lost money in the hour of crypto liquidations
A liquidation happens when a trader borrows to amplify a bet and the price moves far enough against them that the exchange force-closes the position. Short sellers lost only $21.1 million in the hour. The single largest forced closure was an $11.09 million Bitcoin long on Binance at $79,254.
| Category (one hour, Oct 29) | Liquidated |
|---|---|
| Total | $627.7 million |
| Long positions | $606.6 million |
| Bitcoin | $189.1 million |
| Ether | $156.8 million |
| Solana | $46.8 million |
| On Binance | $344.8 million |
| On Hyperliquid | $97 million |
| On Bybit | $77.3 million |
That hourly wipeout was about three times the $200 million unwind that pushed Bitcoin below $80,000 the previous Saturday. Over 24 hours, Coinglass counted 161,647 traders liquidated for $951.2 million, with two thirds of that damage coming in the final hour.
What is still unclear
The size of the incident remains an open question. CryptoTicker’s early estimate of the drain was about $2.8 billion. On-chain trackers cited by BBN Times put total outflows at $5.5-5.8 billion across Ethereum, Bitcoin and Tron. By late Thursday, blockchain intelligence platforms were tracking 55 addresses labelled ‘binance-hacker-1029’ holding about $5.78 billion. Binance hadn’t confirmed any of those figures.
The wording matters too. Binance spokesperson Ross O’Leary said the exchange had “temporarily suspended withdrawals on multiple networks following a security incident as a precautionary measure.” Tech Insider pointed out that neither this statement nor the earlier “potential security issue” language says funds were stolen. Some on-chain observers questioned whether the transfers were a hack at all, suggesting they looked more like an internal wallet migration.
Founder Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs Binance, wrote on X that it “does look like a hack.” If a theft on the scale of the circulating estimates were confirmed, it would exceed what one blog describes as the previous record exchange hack: the $1.5 billion in Ethereum taken from Bybit’s cold wallet on February 21, 2025. For background, see our earlier coverage of the suspected Binance hack and Bitcoin’s price drop.
How markets and analysts reacted to the Binance hack fears
Bitcoin was already fragile going in. It had failed to hold $83,000 the week before, and analyst Benjamin Cowen’s bearish Q4 roadmap had traders treating $80,000 as the line that mattered. The break below that level came during the same window as the wave of crypto liquidations.
Prices kept drifting lower after the initial bounce. CoinGecko data as of 03:13 UTC on October 30 shows the following:
| Asset | Price (Oct 30, 03:13 UTC) | 24h change | 24h low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $77,363 | -3.05% | $76,443 |
| Ether (ETH) | $2,212.81 | -3.99% | $2,178.62 |
| BNB | $709.66 | -4.89% | $682.36 |
| XRP | $1.22 | -5.21% | $1.20 |
| Solana (SOL) | $95.62 | -4.08% | $92.64 |
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 30, classified as “Fear,” on October 30. Circle Internet Group shares fell about 5% in after-hours trading on October 29, according to BBN Times.
Stablecoin issuers and Binance respond
Reuters reported that Tether froze nearly $1.57 billion and Circle more than $800 million in stablecoins, for a combined total of more than $2.38 billion. BeInCrypto noted that stolen exchange funds tend to get sold, and that the Tether freeze takes most of the stablecoins out of play. In a later Reuters update, Binance said $3 billion in crypto assets had been frozen and that the figure could grow. Co-founder Yi He said Ripple froze about $200 million.
Yi He also said “Binance will cover all hacking losses,” although the exchange has not confirmed any loss. Binance also temporarily suspended trading on Binance Alpha, a separate report noted. Binance.US and Coinbase said they weren’t affected.
What it means for investors
Thursday’s crypto liquidations show how leverage works in practice: about 97% of the hour’s liquidations hit long positions. Borrowed positions can be closed out within minutes, and losses can exceed what a trader expected to risk.
Exchange risk is the other lesson. Binance told Reuters that user funds remain safe and that withdrawals will resume once security checks are complete, but those statements have not been independently verified. Our separate report on the suspected Binance hot wallet drain covers the outflow in more detail. Things to watch include an official loss figure from Binance, whether frozen amounts keep growing and whether any unfrozen assets start moving to other exchanges.
Nothing here is a trading signal. Crypto prices are volatile, assets held on any exchange carry counterparty and security risk, and a total loss is possible.
Bottom line on the crypto liquidations
As BeInCrypto put it, the market priced the worst case before Binance or Zhao had spoken, and more than $600 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated within the hour. Whether this proves to be a record theft or something less severe depends on details Binance hasn’t yet confirmed.
Sources
- Crypto Liquidations Top $628 Million in an Hour as Binance Hack Fears Sink Bitcoin (BeInCrypto)
- Binance Hack: Around $2.8 Billion Drained From a Hot Wallet (cryptoticker.io)
- Binance Hacked in $5.8 Billion Heist: The Inside Story of the Biggest Crypto Theft (www.bbntimes.com)
- Tether, Circle freeze $2.38 billion after Binance reports security incident By Reuters (www.investing.com)
- Binance's possible hack triggers $3 billion freeze in crypto assets By Reuters (za.investing.com)
- Binance says $2.54 billion in assets frozen as it probes security incident (www.centraloregondaily.com)
- Binance Pauses Withdrawals After $3.52B Outflow [2026] (tech-insider.org)
- Binance hacked for 5.6 $billion now – largest Crypto hack ever – possibly ongoing – Investment Watch Blog (www.investmentwatchblog.com)
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile; always do your own research before investing.
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