Bitcoin held up better than expected after Binance hack, Strive CEO says

Strive chief executive Matt Cole told Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction on Friday that Bitcoin’s price held up better than expected after the $6.3 billion Binance hack. At 4 p.m. Saturday Bitcoin was trading near $77,400, roughly 4 percent below its level just before the breach began on Thursday. Cole said the incident does not change his long‑term investment thesis for Bitcoin, though he warned it is too early to call a market bottom.

Background

The Binance hack, disclosed on Thursday, is the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, with around $6.3 billion taken from the exchange’s wallets, according to data from analytics firm Glassnode. The breach eclipses the combined losses from the next nine biggest hacks and surpasses the previous record of a $1.5 billion Bybit exploit in February 2025. Security researchers at Blockaid traced the attack to a compromised transaction signing process on Binance’s side, but Binance said it found no evidence that private keys were leaked and its investigation remains ongoing. The hack has revived concerns about exchange security, especially as three of the ten biggest crypto hacks since 2025 have involved exchanges. In the broader market, Bitcoin’s price reaction has been compared with the 2025 Bybit incident, where Bitcoin fell about 5 percent from near $100,000 to $95,000, and with an average 8.3 percent decline in the first 24 hours after prior exchange exploits, as cited by Anchorage Digital data referenced by CNBC. Meanwhile, Strive, a publicly traded company that holds Bitcoin as a treasury asset, reported owning 43,000 BTC as of Oct. 23 and has been actively buying Bitcoin, including a recent purchase of 4,045 BTC between Oct. 12 and 16 at an average price of $82,803 per coin. The company’s recent capital raise and preferred‑stock offering have supplied cash for these purchases, underscoring a corporate trend of using public equity to accumulate Bitcoin.

What happened

On Thursday, Binance announced that attackers had stolen roughly $6.3 billion from its wallets, making it the biggest crypto hack on record, as reported by Glassnode. Blockaid CEO Ido Ben‑Natan explained that the attackers appeared to have compromised Binance’s transaction signing process, identifying an Ethereum transaction with 50 signed authorizations that allowed malicious code to operate through the wallet. Binance responded that it had found no evidence of leaked private keys, but its investigation was still ongoing. The next day, Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction hosted Strive CEO Matt Cole, who said the breach had not altered his long‑term case for Bitcoin and likened the incident to a bank robbery rather than a failure of the Bitcoin network. Cole noted that Bitcoin was trading near $77,400 at 4 p.m. Saturday, about 4 percent below its price shortly before the hack, according to CoinGecko data. He added that the decline was less severe than he expected given the scale of the breach and broader market weakness, but cautioned that it was too early to determine whether Bitcoin had reached a price bottom. Paul Chapman, financial crime director at Wirex, echoed Cole’s view, stating that Bitcoin itself had not been hacked and the attack was limited to Binance’s systems. By comparison, after the 2025 Bybit hack, Bitcoin fell roughly 5 percent from near $100,000 to $95,000, and Anchorage Digital data cited by CNBC indicated an average 8.3 percent drop in the first 24 hours after prior exchange exploits. Strive’s public filings showed the company owned 43,000 BTC as of Oct. 23 and had recently bought an additional 4,045 BTC for about $335 million, raising its total holdings to 36,818 BTC.

Market impact

Bitcoin’s price after the Binance breach settled near $77,400, representing a 4 percent dip from its pre‑hack level, according to CoinGecko data cited by both Cointelegraph and TradingView. Glassnode highlighted that the $6.3 billion loss exceeds the combined value of the next nine biggest hacks, and that three of the ten largest crypto hacks since the start of 2025 have involved exchanges. By contrast, the 2025 Bybit exploit caused a roughly 5 percent fall from almost $100,000 to $95,000, while Anchorage Digital data showed an average 8.3 percent decline in the first 24 hours after previous exchange attacks. Strive’s balance sheet now reflects ownership of 43,000 BTC as of Oct. 23, and a recent purchase of 4,045 BTC at an average price of $82,803 each added roughly $335 million in Bitcoin value to its treasury. The company’s cash position rose to $317.5 million after raising about $369.2 million from warrant exercises, indicating continued inflows of capital that could support further Bitcoin buying.

Why it matters

The resilience of Bitcoin’s price despite the largest ever exchange hack reinforces the narrative that the cryptocurrency’s network remains secure, a point stressed by both Strive’s Matt Cole and Wirex’s Paul Chapman. This perception may sustain investor confidence and encourage corporate treasuries, like Strive, to continue allocating capital to Bitcoin even amid security breaches at major exchanges. The incident also spotlights systemic vulnerabilities in exchange infrastructure, as Blockaid’s analysis of compromised transaction signing suggests that exchange‑level security, rather than protocol‑level flaws, is the primary risk. Consequently, market participants may push for stronger custodial standards and more rigorous audit practices. Finally, the price reaction—only a modest 4 percent dip—contrasts with historical averages of 5‑8 percent drops after similar events, potentially indicating a maturing market that can absorb large‑scale shocks without severe price dislocation.