Bitcoin, Ether and the broader cryptocurrency market sold off after Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, disclosed a multibillion-dollar hack, with the exchange's native token leading the declines.

Update, Oct. 30 at 1:19 am UTC: This article has been updated with fresh market data, Binance's pledge to cover all losses, and its revised total of frozen assets.

Cryptocurrency markets extended their decline early Friday following the hack, with BNB down more than 8% over 24 hours and Bitcoin trading near $77,000. Losses were broad-based, with major tokens and decentralized finance assets posting steep declines.

BNB, the native token of BNB Chain, the blockchain network affiliated with the exchange, traded near $693, down roughly 8.2%, according to CoinGecko data at the time of writing. Bitcoin fell 4.8% to about $77,131, dipping below the $77,000 level, while Ether declined 5.7% to about $2,217.

BNB's steeper slide reflects its position as an exchange-native asset: tokens tied to a specific platform typically react more sharply to news about that platform's security and operations than the broader market does.

Binance pledged to cover all losses from the incident — placing the financial impact on the exchange rather than its users — and suspended all deposits and withdrawals while it carried out security checks. Deposit and withdrawal suspensions alongside asset freezes are standard containment measures exchanges use during security incidents to prevent further funds from leaving the platform. In a subsequent update, the exchange raised its verified total of frozen assets to around $3 billion, up from an earlier figure of $2.54 billion.

The sell-off extended into decentralized finance (DeFi), a sector built on protocols that allow users to lend, borrow and trade digital assets without traditional intermediaries. Aave's AAVE token fell 11.3% to $118.54, while Uniswap's UNI dropped 10.4% to $6.48, according to CoinGecko.

Aave, the decentralized lending platform, said it had frozen new deposits and borrowing across its community-operated V3 and V4 markets as a precaution. The protocol stressed that its contracts were unaffected and that users could still withdraw funds and repay loans. The response underscores a structural difference between centralized exchanges, which can halt customer withdrawals outright, and DeFi protocols, where users retain custody of their assets and platforms typically restrict only new market activity.

Market sentiment also deteriorated. The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index, which ranges from 0, indicating extreme fear, to 100, indicating extreme greed, fell to "fear" at a score of 30 — its lowest reading since Aug. 14. The index assigns scores of 0–24 to "extreme fear" and 76–100 to "extreme greed," placing the current reading near the fearful end of the scale.

Attention now turns to whether Binance restores deposits and withdrawals, any further revision to its frozen-asset total, and when Aave reopens new deposits and borrowing across its V3 and V4 markets.

Market prices cited in this article are based on CoinGecko data at the time of writing.