Bitcoin heads for a red October as the Binance hack weighs
In short
- At 7:00 a.m. (Sofia time) Bitcoin is £57,654 ($77,250) per coin, 1.4% lower over 24 hours and 4.7% lower over the week. Ethereum is down 6.1% on the week.
- October ends today: from the 30 September close to the 30 October close, Bitcoin fell about 8.5% in sterling (7.7% in dollars). Friday’s overnight low of $76,443 was the weakest since 18 September.
- The Fear & Greed Index dropped from 51 to 30 by Friday morning, and roughly $628 million of positions were liquidated in a single hour on Thursday evening after the attack on a Binance hot wallet.
Bitcoin is heading for a monthly loss of more than 8% in pounds, ending October at a six-week low as the Binance hot-wallet attack keeps traders cautious. We covered the Binance hack yesterday; this is what it has left in the price.
What happened
According to CryptoTicker, Bitcoin fell to $76,443 early on Friday, its lowest level since 18 September, after the attack on a Binance hot wallet hit the market on Thursday evening. The exchange paused withdrawals for some tokens, and about $628 million of positions were liquidated within an hour at the peak of the move.
The Fear & Greed Index stood at 30 (“fear”) on Friday morning, against 51 on Wednesday and Thursday. Traders are watching the 50-day average near $81,920 as resistance and the 200-day average near $73,125 as support. Those are descriptions of chart levels, not a forecast. CryptoTicker puts the October loss at 6.5% in dollars as of Friday morning; on our data, to the 30 October close, it is 7.7% in dollars because the price kept falling during the day.
Crypto trades around the clock, weekends included, so the prices here are as of 7:00 a.m. and can move before the month closes. Over the week, Ethereum is down 6.1%, BNB 4.9% and Solana 6.4%.
A busy week follows: US ISM manufacturing on Monday, the US midterm elections on Tuesday, the Bank of England on Thursday and the US jobs report on Friday 6 November, where the consensus is +55,000 jobs (Newsquawk). We cover the Bank of England and the US events in separate articles today.
What it means for you
The maths: 0.1 BTC bought at the 30 September close of £63,042 per coin cost about £6,304. At 7:00 a.m. the same 0.1 BTC is worth about £5,765, roughly £539 less (down about 8.5%). It shows how wide monthly swings can be: one month removed more than 8% of the position’s value.
The Binance episode is also a reminder that coins held on an exchange depend on that platform’s access: with withdrawals paused, you cannot move them until they resume. The prices above are spot figures; what you receive when selling depends on the exchange and its fees.
Live prices: crypto prices in the UK and the UK stock market.
Bottom line
Bitcoin is about £57,654 and heading for a loss of more than 8% in October, with Friday’s $76,443 low the weakest since 18 September. The Binance hot-wallet attack and about $628 million of liquidations were the main events behind the latest move.
Sources: CryptoTicker · Newsquawk
For information only. This is not investment advice.
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