---
title: "Stablecoins Surged in October as Issuers Froze Binance's Stolen Dollars"
published: 2026-11-01T14:11:00.640095+00:00
type: state_of_market
scope: crypto_market
canonical: https://www.moonwire.org/insights/state-of-market-2026-10.html
tags: [stablecoins, security, bitcoin, exchanges, regulation, ethereum]
---

# Stablecoins Surged in October as Issuers Froze Binance's Stolen Dollars

> October's defining event was a theft from an exchange, but the month belonged to the dollar layer: stablecoins drew far more of the conversation than in September, and Tether and Circle froze stolen USDT and USDC within hours of what Nansen called the record Binance hack. Bitcoin spent the month boxed below $85,000 before falling under $80,000 after the hack, and CredibleCrypto floated a local bottom while Ansem stayed bearish.

## Key takeaways

- Stablecoins and exchanges took over October's conversation from DeFi and memecoins, and [Binance](/s/PSsMcsq7TZW4oRuw5T8r6A?p=a7054b72a757) says about $3 billion of the roughly $6 billion stolen is frozen, including about $2.3 billion in [USDT](/s/9oXno4eKSc2mImkBLcFVLg?p=a7054b72a757) and [USDC](/s/4ziuhqf3Tc-nGVOlSZwc0g?p=a7054b72a757) [[1]](/s/Kj6guJklRvGo88EVkPvYHw?p=a7054b72a757).
- Tether and Circle froze about $971 million USDT and $823 million USDC within hours of the hack, according to [Changpeng Zhao](/s/D9cQMahdQfy-JU_hpEnUMA?p=a7054b72a757) [[3]](/s/CkmljoqfSdqw5CmUH6CGNQ?p=a7054b72a757).
- [Bitcoin](/s/dprQn6-YSUqZakJvP-syVQ?p=a7054b72a757) spent most of October boxed between $80,000 and $85,000 before falling to about $77,185 after the hack [[4]](/s/dxLiTTmQTke-MssZRG9GIw?p=a7054b72a757)[[27]](/s/SIsXSTbBQGWgR1DZ6tyDTA?p=a7054b72a757).
- Binance reserved over $6.34 billion and said 90% of stolen assets had been replenished by 31 October [[25]](/s/Ww20ELyvSKypckHQ9YM5XA?p=a7054b72a757)[[26]](/s/LMiQdZvbS9K7pltFq43rzw?p=a7054b72a757).
- CredibleCrypto floated the hack as a possible local bottom, while [Ansem](/s/8CAv65T8QEGZ5UCdrtGE8Q?p=a7054b72a757) stayed bearish unless Bitcoin and [Ether](/s/MMSdHldPQYu_teda6f8wnw?p=a7054b72a757) broke $82,000 and $2,400 [[34]](/s/w-B3DzygTs6MXYCLV85J9Q?p=a7054b72a757)[[37]](/s/YwyqgGZ1TZac0tt7FvuwoQ?p=a7054b72a757).

October's defining event was a theft from an exchange, but the month belonged to the dollar layer: [stablecoins](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/stablecoin.md) took over far more of the conversation than in September, and when about $6 billion left [Binance](/s/PSsMcsq7TZW4oRuw5T8r6A?p=a7054b72a757) wallets, [Tether](/s/9oXno4eKSc2mImkBLcFVLg?p=a7054b72a757) and Circle froze stolen USDT and [USDC](/s/4ziuhqf3Tc-nGVOlSZwc0g?p=a7054b72a757) on-chain within hours [[1]](/s/Kj6guJklRvGo88EVkPvYHw?p=a7054b72a757)[[2]](/s/FL46OBn4T0y_pkRkWfUSYA?p=a7054b72a757)[[3]](/s/CkmljoqfSdqw5CmUH6CGNQ?p=a7054b72a757).

## From September's ceiling to October's box

Last month's flagship ended with [Bitcoin](/s/dprQn6-YSUqZakJvP-syVQ?p=a7054b72a757) meeting a ceiling near $85,000. October never got through it. [Coin Bureau](/s/gW3t6pXYTIec3Hdd4gJvPg?p=a7054b72a757) described Bitcoin as boxed between $80,000 and $85,000 for weeks [[4]](/s/dxLiTTmQTke-MssZRG9GIw?p=a7054b72a757), and [Glassnode](/s/Q0rKPXiSQ2KqVV9d6gS6ig?p=a7054b72a757) noted it had closed above $85,000 on only five days since January, never for more than three days in a row [[5]](/s/L40sHgHwSeK5gFPHgOefFQ?p=a7054b72a757). Glassnode also put one-month realized volatility at 25%, comparing the market to summer 2023 [[6]](/s/t54J-1yqQfCM5LAlyYyqog?p=a7054b72a757).

Bitcoin still dominated the conversation and drew more of it than in September, but the tone around [Ether](/s/MMSdHldPQYu_teda6f8wnw?p=a7054b72a757) was bearish, and the attention [DeFi](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/defi.md) and [memecoins](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/memecoin.md) had held in September faded. Exchanges and stablecoins took their place, and security coverage also rose.

## Macro: hot prints, then a hold

September inflation came in above forecasts on both measures [Coinbase Markets](/s/R9IyX2TgSqW4y6Cbm3wrBw?p=a7054b72a757) posted: CPI at 3.7% against 3.6% expected [[7]](/s/Z_bY9eGXSXeVk4ugMqYvzw?p=a7054b72a757), and producer prices at 6.3% against a 5.3% consensus [[8]](/s/B42V7gE4TPiCvRolrBbr0g?p=a7054b72a757). [Bitget](/s/21Wec4G6RUq6aEGBsZ3SKg?p=a7054b72a757)'s daily briefing reported that the Federal Reserve kept rates at 3.75-4.00% on 28 October, with Bitcoin near 81,156 USDT and Glassnode's estimated spot-ETF cost basis around $81,500 [[9]](/s/axtUe2spQda-Rj9Vv-MFkw?p=a7054b72a757). [OKX](/s/TCokaPMLTKORiznCoV3g6Q?p=a7054b72a757)'s weekly brief cited a Reuters poll in which 100 of 100 economists forecast a December hike [[10]](/s/KuIF6MJJQPurRfFbVP9Jfw?p=a7054b72a757).

## The hack

On the evening of 29 October UTC, Binance hot wallets began to empty. Coin Bureau traced the first flagged outflows to around 20:05 UTC and said one Ethereum hot wallet was emptied in a single transaction worth around $2.5 billion [[2]](/s/FL46OBn4T0y_pkRkWfUSYA?p=a7054b72a757). [Nansen](/s/YxVcFpnGSc2bWw6S-_o91A?p=a7054b72a757) called it the biggest exchange hack on record, with about $6 billion leaving Binance wallets on Ethereum and other EVM chains, Bitcoin, TRON, [XRP](/s/IYYCFuL_RUy7n4tdgTbiVw?p=a7054b72a757) and Solana in a few hours [[1]](/s/Kj6guJklRvGo88EVkPvYHw?p=a7054b72a757). Binance said its initial investigation suggested a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop had let an attacker reach a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawals, and that it had detected no private-key leakage [[11]](/s/HumAXFbsQZ-ca2luHptz2A?p=a7054b72a757). Coin Bureau reported investigators pointing at North Korea [[12]](/s/h5cua5o_SQWypNVXZrt4BA?p=a7054b72a757).

Much of the brake came from issuers. [Changpeng Zhao](/s/D9cQMahdQfy-JU_hpEnUMA?p=a7054b72a757) thanked Tether for freezing about $971 million and Circle for about $823 million [[3]](/s/CkmljoqfSdqw5CmUH6CGNQ?p=a7054b72a757), and a Circle post he quoted said it had frozen more than 800 million USDC in coordination with law enforcement [[13]](/s/ow-vjaN7R4SU2lKgUBandQ?p=a7054b72a757). [Whale Alert](/s/XupC7b76Q8mKUN8AfHsE4A?p=a7054b72a757) logged frozen addresses holding 971,149,299 USDT and 823,000,000 USDC minutes apart [[14]](/s/63vO0zkiSX6iYzcTilR8Ig?p=a7054b72a757)[[15]](/s/7OW_l3ZCS2-bWqXuLCk_nA?p=a7054b72a757). Ripple moved to freeze affected RLUSD [[16]](/s/QLCGsJSaTZ-4P1ebOMcQyg?p=a7054b72a757), USD1 froze $27 million [[17]](/s/8NGefmMRT7y0zjgL-f9tIg?p=a7054b72a757), and the Arbitrum Security Council froze about $30.5 million [[18]](/s/KeRJRILSQDuL2zL-QicWsw?p=a7054b72a757). Per Nansen, Binance says about $3 billion of the stolen funds is frozen, including about $2.3 billion in USDT and USDC [[1]](/s/Kj6guJklRvGo88EVkPvYHw?p=a7054b72a757).

The rest kept moving. [Whale](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/crypto-whale.md) Alert tracked stolen TRX, UNI, LINK, ENA and PEPE leaving addresses labelled Binance Hack 2026 [[19]](/s/e9isWKcETKac0r1H3HDRfA?p=a7054b72a757)[[20]](/s/4Ozg2N_BR3-El_HaT_3XaQ?p=a7054b72a757)[[21]](/s/MFSmuQHlT3iyZ7r--nj_ug?p=a7054b72a757)[[22]](/s/9FtX0qXlTqur_sKx2HZAgA?p=a7054b72a757)[[23]](/s/mIacmjjaRMyVdFXW35pLmg?p=a7054b72a757), and CredibleCrypto reported the hacker selling more than 500,000 CVX and about 8 million CRV [[24]](/s/lWe4l2OLRj6VVJFYjBMajg?p=a7054b72a757).

Binance said it had reserved over $6.34 billion of company funds, $5 billion of it already held in the exact tokens affected [[25]](/s/Ww20ELyvSKypckHQ9YM5XA?p=a7054b72a757). On 31 October it said 90% of stolen assets had been replenished, up from 80% in its previous update, and shared a proof-of-reserves snapshot [[26]](/s/LMiQdZvbS9K7pltFq43rzw?p=a7054b72a757).

## The price damage

Bitcoin lost $80,000. Bitget's snapshot early on 30 October had it at about $77,185, down 4.68%, with Ether at about $2,219 [[27]](/s/SIsXSTbBQGWgR1DZ6tyDTA?p=a7054b72a757). Coinbase Markets reported longs at 79% of [liquidated](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/liquidation.md) notional during Bitcoin's 4.3% weekly drop, against a 65% median for similar moves [[28]](/s/dUPLALNlS4eCu7QgjUXvxw?p=a7054b72a757), and Whale Alert reported a $643.2 million daily outflow from US [spot Bitcoin ETFs](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/spot-bitcoin-etf.md) that erased four days of inflows [[29]](/s/uVoV8G58Q3mFapIC4H_TrQ?p=a7054b72a757).

Ether's institutional demand was already thin before the hack. Whale Alert reported $1.07 billion of 30-day net outflows from US spot Ether ETFs [[30]](/s/2vaDh6hfRcq4hPnByQXdPA?p=a7054b72a757), and Glassnode counted 23 consecutive days of outflows, the longest streak since launch [[31]](/s/-5gjXyGHS5aISi6jaHDqBQ?p=a7054b72a757).

## Where the voices split

On the hack itself, Changpeng Zhao wrote that it was the biggest in USD terms but not in BTC terms and addressed why its impact on the Bitcoin price was small, while still calling it "a major disaster for the industry" [[32]](/s/5bHj_3uzRseZE--azMUwkQ?p=a7054b72a757). [Michael Saylor](/s/_TR8sX9YT3KFIkBenyG5CQ?p=a7054b72a757) wrote that Binance had committed its own balance sheet to making customers whole and "I expect it to deliver" [[25]](/s/Ww20ELyvSKypckHQ9YM5XA?p=a7054b72a757). [Lark Davis](/s/QVwpcaQCRTCY6iQJDTqCew?p=a7054b72a757) said Binance can absorb the loss while flagging Bitcoin's technical weakness [[33]](/s/q_ETZ6ROSoKp9jST56vX2Q?p=a7054b72a757).

On price, CredibleCrypto compared the hack to the FTX collapse and suggested it could mark a local bottom [[34]](/s/w-B3DzygTs6MXYCLV85J9Q?p=a7054b72a757), and Trader [XO](/s/78TEtU6tSTe5cuhTT0JLgg?p=a7054b72a757) wrote that if price traded through a key zone with no snapback, the rest of the fourth quarter would lean towards building a bigger accumulation base in a $60,000-$80,000 range, and described looking to keep adding to spot over the coming months while not being a fan of the shorter-term fourth-quarter macro outlook [[35]](/s/pKDF0WnWRvWIptRq9DuWDQ?p=a7054b72a757). Glassnode pointed to a short-term holder cost basis of $75.8k as potential support [[36]](/s/XVAy0j4-TXmpPK4n5Hj9ew?p=a7054b72a757). On the other side, [Ansem](/s/8CAv65T8QEGZ5UCdrtGE8Q?p=a7054b72a757) stayed bearish on Bitcoin and Ether unless they broke weekly highs of $82,000 and $2,400 [[37]](/s/YwyqgGZ1TZac0tt7FvuwoQ?p=a7054b72a757), [Mayne](/s/cLH6mTi3RESWBRw34SZ5cA?p=a7054b72a757) said Bitcoin could retreat to around $75,000 if a bear-market fractal repeated [[38]](/s/8WmO6-GjT_Cq1Jf1Q-E_dw?p=a7054b72a757), and [Investing Made Simple](/s/lTffltxsTnO54-Ay7z-btQ?p=a7054b72a757) said Bitcoin may bottom within two to three weeks [[39]](/s/nu6CYboVREWdlQqsGAuhgA?p=a7054b72a757).

Ether drew the same split. Against the ETF exits, CredibleCrypto argued Ether had completed its consolidation and was entering an expansion phase, citing an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern that could carry it toward $10,000 [[40]](/s/EC8l3Y3LRfaYWiD9pRg0yQ?p=a7054b72a757).

## The dollar layer kept building

The freezes landed in a month when stablecoin rails were already expanding. Ripple deepened its Robinhood partnership with RLUSD, Ripple Prime and Treasury services [[41]](/s/s4ZNzNtDS2-Apj0qvA1TDw?p=a7054b72a757), partnered with Coinbase to list RLUSD [[42]](/s/owpxIZhZQq-5LJlw-zLKcg?p=a7054b72a757), and added RLUSD settlement with Cross River Bank [[43]](/s/N5JBZs5eSzivgRNog6ZieA?p=a7054b72a757) and C2FO [[44]](/s/5IdJE6VhR1eKwk1uWhk49A?p=a7054b72a757). Visa said annualized stablecoin settlement on its network exceeded $25 billion, with more than 225 card programs [[45]](/s/i3MiSSMST1-b23HnmpEQoQ?p=a7054b72a757). OKX's brief recorded the OCC's final [GENIUS Act](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/genius-act.md) stablecoin rule, issued on 21 October and effective on 18 January 2027 [[10]](/s/KuIF6MJJQPurRfFbVP9Jfw?p=a7054b72a757). The USDC Treasury minted at least one 250 million USDC batch on each of the month's last six days [[46]](/s/S3ntNUSNSXWJpF11iu3l3w?p=a7054b72a757)[[47]](/s/HJbMQ1xbRTuvm7b7Q5qpig?p=a7054b72a757)[[48]](/s/7wieZb8QRzuLAa97bGfefw?p=a7054b72a757)[[49]](/s/PfbwSsyxScWR51E52AvFTg?p=a7054b72a757)[[50]](/s/Lv9jH0MjQbeSF8soJeAdaA?p=a7054b72a757)[[51]](/s/pT2q3EM8S_OV4-8tIJ9hUQ?p=a7054b72a757).

## Security and regulation beyond Binance

Binance was not the only breach in the month's coverage. Coin Bureau reported a $388 million wallet [exploit](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/crypto-exploit.md) at Bitget, which said customer balances were unaffected [[52]](/s/GTvf_114SwWo3Yd-Xn7Hxg?p=a7054b72a757). Lark Davis covered a Coldcard seed-generation flaw with losses estimated at $130 million [[53]](/s/gwturuakTkSZrm_TmfKXHw?p=a7054b72a757), Singapore police linked tampered Ledger wallets to about S$3.5 million in losses [[54]](/s/D_ZUssbfQ8KH_c4pdqUXaA?p=a7054b72a757), and CoinDCX confirmed a $15.99 million USDT loss [[55]](/s/7Y7OhYfiQri82uEAWKQL1w?p=a7054b72a757).

Regulators worked on jurisdiction and enforcement. The [CFTC](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/cftc.md) sued Utah to block state enforcement it said could erode federal jurisdiction [[56]](/s/V-g6X4xUQ_u5iFxXyWzicQ?p=a7054b72a757) and opened public comment on crypto-asset rulemaking [[57]](/s/opFGzHKdS_q53dAbDLoyyg?p=a7054b72a757). The [SEC](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/sec.md) proposed a crypto-custody framework for investment advisers and regulated funds [[58]](/s/W-QiVY1eRuiV-oVId4lP-A?p=a7054b72a757) and charged BG Wealth and DSJ Exchange over an alleged $130 million fraud [[59]](/s/h8VfkCxARXiAOfn1tpxecw?p=a7054b72a757). Whale Alert reported US authorities freezing more than $1 billion in crypto tied to scam networks [[60]](/s/lmcKJhaWQlCwrmn_HjLMfg?p=a7054b72a757).

## Into November

November opens with Binance at 90% replenishment [[26]](/s/LMiQdZvbS9K7pltFq43rzw?p=a7054b72a757), about $3 billion of stolen funds frozen [[1]](/s/Kj6guJklRvGo88EVkPvYHw?p=a7054b72a757), and Ether's ETF outflow streak at 23 days [[31]](/s/-5gjXyGHS5aISi6jaHDqBQ?p=a7054b72a757).

---

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