Decrypt’s Morning Minute newsletter, written by Tyler Warner, said the market response to the $6.3 billion Binance hack was “constructive” for Ethereum. Warner’s analysis and opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. He is on X at @Tyler_Did_It.

Tom Lee calls Binance hack response bullish for Ethereum

Tom Lee described the crypto market’s response to what has been called the largest crypto theft ever recorded as “constructive.” His company, BitMine Immersion, bought another 8,573 ETH last week, worth roughly $19.6 million, bringing its treasury to 6,060,506 ETH valued at about $13.7 billion.

The holdings represent 4.9% of the total circulating ETH supply, making Lee the executive with the largest reported exposure to Ethereum.

Lee’s argument centers on a comparison of market reactions. ETH fell about 4% after the Binance hack. Following the Bybit hack in February 2025, ETH declined 8% on the first day and 20% over the following week. Lee called the “relatively muted crypto market reaction very constructive,” interpreting it as evidence that the industry could absorb an incident of this size without broader market failures.

He cited four factors behind that view:

• Binance covered the loss from its own balance sheet instead of socializing it.
• Tether and Circle froze the stolen stablecoins within hours.
• No DeFi protocol failed as collateral damage.
• Investigators attributed the attack to North Korea almost immediately.

Warner wrote that each of those developments represented something that went right in 2026 and had gone badly in 2025.

The price comparison leaves broader questions about Ethereum’s trading outlook. October was the worst month in the history of U.S. spot ETH exchange-traded funds, with $1.61 billion in net outflows. ETH is down 19% from its local peak, compared with an 11% decline for Bitcoin.

Warner also identified BitMine’s purchases as a potential factor in Ethereum’s weakness. The company is 99% of the way toward the 5% supply cap that Lee has said it will stop at, leaving it about 49,500 ETH short. At last week’s purchase rate, that would represent roughly six weeks of buying.

Ethereum has had a large, price-insensitive corporate buyer for most of the past year, but that buying program is nearing its stated limit. The market will now show what demand looks like without that buyer, Warner wrote.

Macro, crypto and markets

Crypto majors were slightly lower as outflows continued. BTC was down 0.6% at $77,300, ETH was flat at $2,280, SOL fell 1% to $93, HYPE declined 1% to $85, and ZEC dropped 3% to $1,210. STX rose 4%, WLFI gained 2%, XMR increased 3%, and PUMP rose 4% among the leading altcoin movers.

Oil fell 1% to $98, while gold was flat at $3,910. Stock futures were mixed ahead of the midterm elections, with the Dow down 0.8% and Nasdaq futures up 0.2%.

Brazil’s largest exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, halted deposits and withdrawals Monday after a security incident. ZachXBT said more than $106 million had been drained from the exchange accounts of an unnamed European entity on Sunday. He said with high confidence that the thief was not Lazarus, and that the funds moved through ETH, Monero and cross-chain bridges within 24 hours.

BTCPay Server told merchants to shut down their instances Sunday following reports that attackers were sweeping hot wallets using administrator access. Alongside the $6.3 billion Binance hack and the Mercado Bitcoin halt, the warning pointed to a stretch of security incidents across crypto platforms and payment infrastructure.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denied that Pyongyang had any role in the $6.3 billion Binance hack. In state media, she called the FBI’s attribution “absurd rhetoric” and a “grave political provocation.” The statement puts Pyongyang publicly at odds with the attribution to North Korea that Lee cited among his four constructive factors.

Corporate treasuries and ETFs

Bitcoin ETFs recorded $399 million in net outflows Monday, bringing total outflows to more than $1 billion over the previous two sessions. ETH ETFs recorded $140 million in outflows.

Strategy resumed buying Bitcoin with an 811 BTC purchase valued at $65.5 million at an average price of $80,846, ending a one-week pause. Strive added 124 BTC for about $10 million at an average price of $80,526, bringing its treasury to 43,124 BTC worth roughly $3.3 billion. Most of the purchase came from existing cash, which fell to $490.4 million.

Meme coins and protocol activity

Leading meme coins were mostly flat: DOGE and SHIB were unchanged, PEPE gained 1%, PENGU fell 1%, TRUMP declined 2%, and SPX and BONK were unchanged.

Robinhood chain leaders were mostly lower. Pons fell 13% to a $135 million market capitalization, Cashcat rose 5% to $105 million, and AI declined 12% to $55 million. Forever gained 40% to lead the top movers. Solana’s top movers included Mamesuke, up 200%, ansum, up 30 times, and Float, up 180%.

Hyperliquid led on-chain protocols in revenue with $2.39 million, followed by Pump.fun at $1.64 million and Collector Crypt at $285,000.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company holds roughly 150,000 Bitcoin worth about $11.6 billion at current prices and has served 730 million customers worldwide.

Binance recorded $2 billion in net inflows over the past day, although it remained down $12 billion in net flows over the previous week. For the exchange at the center of the hack, net flows serve as one gauge of user activity in the aftermath.

NFTs

NFT leaders were mostly lower. Punks were unchanged at 30.4 ETH, BAYC fell 5% to 5.65 ETH, and Pudgy declined 3% to 2.32 ETH. Crawlers, up 47%, and Punks2027, up 130%, led the top movers.

Source: Decrypt