Key facts
- Binance customers pulled $3.64 billion, or 2.1% of its assets, as the exchange went back online on Sunday.
- Binance said it had covered 95% of the $6.3 billion of stolen assets.
- Bitcoin was up 0.22% at $77,975.62, having fallen to a six-week low on Friday.
- Ether was up 0.27% to $2,268.42, having slid to a two-month trough last week.
- The euro languished near a 17-month low at $1.1159 in early Asian trade after Fitch revised France's outlook to negative.
- The yen eased 0.15% to 157.78 per dollar; the Australian dollar was flat at $0.7033 ahead of Tuesday's RBA decision.
Bitcoin and ether nursed losses on Monday after last week's record $6.3 billion heist at Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, which the FBI links to North Korea. Bitcoin was up 0.22% at $77,975.62, having fallen to a six-week low on Friday, while ether was up 0.27% to $2,268.42 after sliding to a two-month trough last week.
Binance customers pulled $3.64 billion, or 2.1% of its assets, as the exchange went back online on Sunday. Binance said withdrawals were stabilising after an initial spike and deposit volumes had remained substantial, and that it had covered 95% of the $6.3 billion of stolen assets.
In currency markets, the dollar and other major currencies were in a holding pattern on Monday as investors turned to US midterm elections on Tuesday, which could shift control of Congress. The euro languished near a 17-month low at $1.1159 in early Asian trade, weighed down by Fitch's revision of France's outlook to negative from stable after Friday's close. Sterling was little changed at $1.3387, and the dollar steadied at 101.94 against a basket of currencies.
The yen eased 0.15% to 157.78 per dollar. The Australian dollar was flat at $0.7033 ahead of Tuesday's Reserve Bank of Australia decision, where it is widely expected to raise its cash rate to a near two-decade high of 4.85%. The New Zealand dollar fell 0.11% to $0.5625, having slid 1.2% last week after its central bank's surprise decision to leave rates unchanged.
Eric Robertsen, global head of research and chief strategist at Standard Chartered, said polling suggests strong anti-incumbent sentiment but that does not always translate into election outcomes, citing Brazil and Israel. He said a Democratic sweep of Congress could create obstacles at the state level for data center and AI infrastructure capex plans, and that the next debate on raising the US debt ceiling would be among the most contentious in recent history. Andreja Cobeljic, head of derivatives trading at AMINA Bank, said hedge funds had suffered significant losses in October, leaving markets with little capacity to absorb surprises from the midterms.
Richard Forss, chief technology officer at global prime broker EXANTE, said the crypto industry has spent a decade making blockchains mathematically secure but still runs on the assumption that an employee's laptop can be trusted, calling that assumption the weakest point in digital finance.