Between October 31 and November 7, the cryptocurrency industry absorbed security breaches, a political shift and a major network upgrade. Binance, Mercado Bitcoin, Zcash, Circle, Apple and Meta all featured in the week's headlines. Two exchanges reported large hacks within days of each other, major technology companies pushed back on tokenized stock trading plans, and Zcash completed a network upgrade.

Binance Recovers From $6.3 Billion Crypto Hack

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, was hit by a cyberattack on October 29 that affected approximately $6.3 billion in digital assets. The FBI attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a hacking group linked to North Korea — one of several North Korean-linked groups that US agencies have tied to large-scale cryptocurrency thefts in recent years — and investigators pointed to compromised transaction-signing infrastructure as the point of entry.

Co-CEO Richard Teng addressed the fallout at Hong Kong Fintech Week on November 3, saying the exchange remained in strong financial health. Reuters reported that Binance had since replenished roughly 95% of the affected tokens, with the remaining 5% — consisting mainly of less-liquid assets — still to be restored.

Customer withdrawals reached about $4.72 billion by Monday before activity began returning to normal. The incident has raised broader questions about exchange security, institutional custody and the limits of crypto insurance.

Democrats Win US Midterms, Raising Questions About Crypto Regulation

Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the US midterm elections, a result the Associated Press reported on November 4. The outcome creates uncertainty for the CLARITY Act, a proposal to set clearer regulatory roles for digital assets that passed the House in July but has not yet become law.

The crypto industry had spent heavily on campaigns backing candidates seen as favorable to digital asset rules, although the election result does not mean the legislation will fail. Exchanges, stablecoin issuers and institutional investors now face new political considerations as talks over crypto market structure continue, with the bill's fate in the new Congress the immediate question to watch.

Mercado Bitcoin Hit by Major Cryptocurrency Hack

Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin, one of Latin America's largest crypto trading platforms, confirmed a security breach on November 2, days after the Binance attack. Hackers accessed wallets across at least 10 blockchain networks, prompting the exchange to pause deposits and withdrawals.

Mercado Bitcoin first reported about $38 million in losses, but blockchain analytics firm Bitquery later estimated that $48.6 million had been stolen. Investigators found that attackers kept draining customer deposit addresses for several hours after the exchange said the incident had been contained. The revision highlights how on-chain analytics firms can size breaches independently of initial company disclosures.

The company pledged to cover customer losses, and stablecoin issuers helped freeze millions of dollars in stolen assets — a mechanism that has become a common part of the response to major crypto thefts.

Zcash NU7 Upgrade Goes Live

Zcash, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency, activated its NU7 network upgrade on November 6, cutting the target block interval from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. The change could allow private payments to receive confirmations three times faster.

NU7 introduces a Network Sustainability Mechanism that reserves 60% of transaction fees for future mining rewards, while the 21 million coin supply cap remains in place. The upgrade also disabled legacy Sprout transactions — the shielded pool that dates back to Zcash's 2016 launch — leaving about 12,224 coins unspendable unless a recovery mechanism is approved.

Circle Cuts Workforce Despite Strong USDC Earnings

Circle, the issuer of USDC — the second-largest stablecoin by market value — reported third-quarter revenue and reserve income of $865 million, results that beat estimates, and said it will cut about 5% of its workforce. USDC transaction volume rose 49% to $13.9 trillion, and net income from continuing operations came in at $226 million.

Circle recorded a $9.1 million restructuring charge as it adjusts operations and expands its use of artificial intelligence. CoinDesk reported that the company beat earnings and revenue estimates on rising USDC transaction volume.

Apple and Meta Reject Tokenized Stock Trading

Apple and Meta rejected proposals to trade tokenized versions of their shares under plans involving crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Tokenized equities represent publicly listed shares as blockchain-based tokens that can be traded on crypto venues, and the objections concern shareholder protections, regulatory oversight and the role of blockchain technology in traditional securities markets.

According to CoinDesk, 67 companies have now objected to the arrangements, representing roughly 90% of the original selection.

This weekly recap was originally published on CoinCentral.