Bitcoin Falls After Binance Hack

The US equities moved into negative territory on Thursday, led by a sharp selloff in the technology sector. By the close, the Dow Jones (US30) had slipped 0.25%, the S&P 500 (US500) declined 0.30%, and the Nasdaq 100 (US100) dropped 1.38%. The main catalyst behind the downturn was a disappointing earnings report from Alphabet, whose shares plunged 12.6% after missing both revenue and profit expectations. The results undermined investor confidence in the payoff potential of massive artificial intelligence investments and weighed on shares of Amazon, Intel, and Caterpillar. In contrast, the pharmaceutical sector significantly outperformed, with Eli Lilly surging 6.5% and Merck gaining 3.7% after both companies raised their annual revenue outlooks amid strong demand for their medical products.

The macroeconomic backdrop presented a mixed picture, combining resilient economic growth with persistent inflationary pressures. US GDP expanded by an annualized 3.4% in the third quarter, significantly exceeding market expectations. However, September’s acceleration in the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index confirmed that inflation remains stubbornly elevated. The combination of strong economic activity, the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer stance on interest rates, and disappointing earnings from major technology companies is prompting investors to reassess risks and adopt a more cautious approach.

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) fell to $76,000. A $6.3 billion security breach at Binance became the largest hack in the history of the digital assets currency industry, dwarfing previous incidents. Although the swift response by stablecoin issuers, including Tether and Circle, as well as Layer-2 networks, enabled the freezing of approximately $2.7-3.0 billion of compromised assets, the unrestricted disposal of the remaining unrecoverable holdings, primarily BTC and ETH, triggered an immediate supply imbalance across spot markets. The cascading impact of large-scale forced liquidations of bullish positions, which totaled $1.3 billion over the past 24 hours, coincided with the expiration of $11 billion worth of options on Deribit, significantly amplifying volatility in ETH, SOL, XRP, and BNB. Binance’s commitment to fully compensate users through its SAFU fund and corporate capital is expected to alleviate systemic concerns. However, until deposits and withdrawals are fully restored and the hackers’ asset sales are completed, the market is likely to remain under pressure.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX (DE40) gained 1.31%, France’s CAC 40 (FR40) advanced 1.05%, Spain’s IBEX 35 (ES35) slipped 0.14%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 (UK100) closed 0.26% higher. The European Central Bank kept its key interest rates unchanged at 2.50% for the deposit facility and 2.65% for the main refinancing operations, maintaining a wait-and-see approach amid conflicting macroeconomic signals. Elevated energy prices remain the ECB’s primary concern, as they create stagflationary risks by fueling inflation while simultaneously restraining economic activity across the euro area. The key surprise of the day came from Christine Lagarde’s announcement that she intends to step down as ECB President ahead of schedule, adding institutional uncertainty at a time of heightened volatility in the French government bond market and rising global yields.

WTI crude oil prices fell to $101 per barrel on Thursday. The decline was driven by reports of renewed diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iran, reducing the geopolitical risk premium embedded in energy markets. Additional pressure came from news of fiscal and commodity-market interventions in Europe, where authorities approved the release of 42 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves over the next three months. A substantial share of the volume will consist of diesel fuel, helping ease shortages in the refining sector and contain energy-driven inflationary pressures.

The US natural gas prices (XNG) declined more than 4%, falling to a one-week low of around $2.92 per MMBtu. The move was driven by a recovery in production across the Lower 48 states to 113.3 billion cubic feet per day, alongside a larger-than-expected inventory build reported by the EIA, which showed storage increasing by 80 billion cubic feet versus a consensus prediction of 75 billion cubic feet. Total inventories reached 3.724 trillion cubic feet, approximately 1% above the five-year average.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) rose 1.10%, FTSE China 50 edged up 0.09%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) declined 0.59%, while Australia’s ASX 200 (AU200) gained 0.50%.

The New Zealand dollar’s (NZD) modest appreciation to $0.564 reflects a gradual stabilization following the initial market reaction to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s October policy pause. Coordinated hawkish guidance from policymakers, ranging from Governor Anna Brehmer’s remarks regarding a “high probability” of a December rate increase to comments from Deputy Governor Karen Silk, has effectively reshaped market expectations. Traders now see a 76% probability of an increase in the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at the December meeting and have revised the expected peak rate higher, toward 3.75% and above.

• S&P 500 (US500) 7,720.39 -23.59 (-0.30%)

• Dow Jones (US30) 52,342.56 -132.54 (-0.25%)

• DAX (DE40) 26,039.68 +335.66 (+1.31%)

• FTSE 100 (UK100) 10,722.07 +27.57 (+0.26%)

• USD Index 101.87 -0.32 (-0.31%)

News feed for: 2026.10.30

• Japan Tokyo Core CPI (m/m) at 01:30 (GMT+2) – JPY (HIGH)

• Japan Unemployment Rate (m/m) at 01:30 (GMT+2) – JPY (MED)

• Japan Retail Sales (m/m) at 01:50 (GMT+2) – JPY (MED)

• Japan BoJ Interest Rate Decision at 05:00 (GMT+2) – JPY, JP225 (HIGH)

• Japan BoJ Monetary Policy Statement at 05:00 (GMT+2) – JPY, JP225 (HIGH)

• Switzerland Retail Sales (m/m) at 09:30 (GMT+2) – CHF (LOW)

• Eurozone GDP (m/m) at 12:00 (GMT+2) – EUR (MED)

• Canada GDP (m/m) at 14:30 (GMT+2) – CAD (MED)

• German Inflation Rate (m/m) at 15:00 (GMT+2) – EUR (MED)

• US Chicago PMI (m/m) at 15:45 (GMT+2) – USD (LOW)