The market this morning

North Korea rejects FBI blame for record Binance hack as a second exchange, Brazil's Mercado Bitcoin, is breached

By Crypto Info News

Good morning. North Korea has denied involvement in the Binance hack. Cointelegraph reports that Pyongyang pushed back against the FBI's attribution, with Kim Yo Jong calling the US allegations politically motivated. The Block reports the same rejection, describing it as Kim Jong-Un's sister rejecting FBI claims that linked North Korean hackers to the heist. The two outlets size the theft differently: Cointelegraph refers to a $6.3B hack, while The Block describes a record $6 billion Binance hack. The amount is disputed.

A second exchange was breached the same day. The Block reports that Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil's largest crypto exchange, confirmed a security incident on Monday and paused withdrawals, putting the loss at $46 million. Chainalysis describes the same incident as resulting in approximately $49 million in stolen funds and says it led the freeze of nearly $10 million. The figure for the loss is disputed between the two sources.

Markets fell. As the market closed on 2 November, Bitcoin traded at $76,709.41, down 2.02% over 24 hours, with a market cap of $1.54 trillion. Ether was at $2,250.22, down 1.04%. Cointelegraph reports that Bitcoin fell around 1.7% on Monday as stocks pared early gains tied to hopes of a diplomatic resolution to the US-Iran war, and that a 7% slide in oil failed to spark a rally. Glassnode reports Bitcoin trading near $78,000 on Monday after a Thursday slide below $80,000, with perpetual sellers driving the drop while spot buyers held steady.

In equities, Cointelegraph reports that Morgan Stanley cut its Coinbase price target by 50% and lowered its rating, citing slowing trading activity and fallout from the Binance hack. Separately, Cointelegraph reports New Jersey lifted its staking ban and dropped a $5 million penalty, clearing the way for Coinbase to restore staking for users in the state.

Elsewhere, Decrypt reports Strive added 124 Bitcoin for about $10 million, now trailing Twenty One Capital by 390 BTC for third place among treasury companies. Cointelegraph reports that onchain investigator ZachXBT flagged a suspected $106 million loss from a European entity's exchange accounts and a possible $786,000 drain from a Solana bot wallet; Decrypt reports the same suspected $106 million theft from an EU entity.

What to watch: whether Mercado Bitcoin resumes withdrawals, and whether either exchange loss figure is reconciled.