- Bitcoin is steadying. The largest cryptocurrency rose about 1% to roughly $78,600 in Monday Asian hours, its third consecutive daily gain, after dipping to about $77,600 late Sunday before buyers pushed it back above $78,500 within hours. Bloomberg noted it is still down roughly 4% from Thursday’s high, before Binance disclosed its hack.
- Altcoins joined the rebound. Zcash led the majors with a 3% gain to nearly $1,280, ether and BNB each added nearly 2% to just above $2,300 and about $713, and XRP and TRX rose about 1%, while SOL barely moved at about $95, according to CoinDesk data.
- Risk appetite is recovering across markets. After the Nasdaq 100 slumped 3.5% on Friday in its worst day since June and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 7%, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed at least 0.4% on Monday, oil fell 3% to about $110 and gold rose about 1% to roughly $3,910 an ounce.
- Traders are still buying protection. The one-day 25-delta put skew on Deribit options climbed about 1 percentage point in 24 hours to 6.37 points, according to Bloomberg, a sign of growing demand for hedges against a near-term drop.
What Happened?
Crypto prices stabilized after Binance disclosed a $6.3 billion hack last week, the largest theft from a crypto exchange on record. Analysts attribute the resilience to Binance’s promise to cover all losses. “The market treated this as an operational shock, not a systemic one,” said Kelly Ye, head of research at Talos, noting that order book depth on Binance dropped 25% to 30% but buyers returned within hours. By contrast, bitcoin fell 19% over three days during FTX’s 2022 collapse. Asian investors also picked up risk again on Monday, and oil dropped after a report that Trump wants to give diplomacy with Iran more time.
Why It Matters?
Bitcoin’s three-day recovery suggests the market is treating the hack as exchange-specific, but the bounce remains tied closely to tech stocks and sentiment is fragile. AQC Tech’s Sean McNulty said “people see this as the tip of the iceberg and expect more hacks to happen given the AI capabilities.” BTSE’s Jeff Mei said a small rebound in tech could indicate “we’ve already hit the bottom” and present a buying opportunity below $80,000, but warned macro pressures “will continue to keep interest rates high,” weighing on crypto liquidity. The midterms add a political layer, since Democrats oppose the CLARITY Act on crypto market oversight.
What’s Next?
History is a caution: after the Bybit hack on Feb. 21, 2025, bitcoin’s initial reaction was muted, but losses mounted and left it about 14% lower a week later, according to Bloomberg. Polls close across the US on Tuesday night, so results will land during Wednesday’s Asian hours. Traders will watch whether tech stocks rebound and whether bitcoin can reclaim $80,000.
