A hack worth $6.3 billion, or about 8.4 trillion won, hit Binance, but bitcoin did not post a sharp drop like it did in 2018.

On Oct. 30, local time, blockchain outlet Decrypt reported bitcoin fell about 4 percent the day after the hack. Even compared with right after the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Oct. 29, the drop was limited to about 6 percent.

Chainalysis and TRM Labs estimated the losses at about $6.4 billion. That is more than four times the $1.5 billion loss from the Bybit hack in February 2025. By contrast, during an attack targeting Binance in March 2018, there was no actual theft of assets, but bitcoin plunged within minutes to $9,690 from $10,740.

Reasons cited for the relatively limited shock include a larger market and inflows of institutional money through spot exchange-traded funds. Total crypto market capitalisation has risen to about $2.6 trillion from just above $400 billion in March 2018. Spot bitcoin ETFs also hold 1.3 million bitcoin, about 6 percent of total supply.

Binance's measures to make up losses were also cited as a factor easing market anxiety. The company said it would put in at least $6.34 billion of its own funds to buy missing tokens in over-the-counter trades and open markets. It said about $3.0 billion of the stolen funds had been frozen. Deposits were being processed normally at the time, and suspended withdrawals were set to resume within 45 hours.

The possibility of selling stolen assets remains a burden. The attacker holds 420,000 ether and 18,270 bitcoin, and assets that stablecoin issuers cannot freeze total about $2.4 billion. Including other tokens, the holdings exceed $3.0 billion.

Market sentiment had weakened even before the hack. CoinMarketCap's crypto Fear and Greed Index fell to 36 from 43, moving from neutral into the fear zone. Bitcoin also remained about 38 percent below its all-time high of $126,080. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said about 4.0 million bitcoin bought in the $85,000 to $118,000 range were in loss territory.

Some analysis also says the drop in investor sentiment did not lead to large-scale dumping. HashKey analyst Tim Sun (팀 선) said the market's problem before the hack was not panic selling but a lack of new buying demand. Unlike in 2018, when the market fell into extreme fear, he said richer liquidity, a more established regulatory framework and long-term holding funds reduced the shock this time.

The incident showed bitcoin's ability to absorb shocks has grown compared with the past, even amid a large-scale hack. Still, a limited decline does not necessarily mean a rebound. The next moves are expected to be influenced by whether ETF funds flow out, whether Binance follows through on compensating losses, and any further movement of stolen assets.