Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the spot price of Bitcoin (BTC) experienced cumulative net outflows of $643 million on Oct. 30 following news of a massive theft at cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The funds saw their biggest single-day exodus since June 25 of this year when investors pulled $696.3 million from the ETFs, according to data from SoSoValue.
The ETFs are investment funds that hold Bitcoin and list tradable units of it on an exchange, allowing investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency’s price movements without having to own the digital asset themselves. The massive outflow on Oct. 30 came after it was revealed that Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, had $6.3 billion stolen from its platform.
A technical analysis of Bitcoin. Source: TipRanks
The Binance Heist
North Korean hackers are being blamed for the theft, which has shaken confidence in Binance and the security of cryptocurrencies that are held in digital wallets and on central exchanges. Binance had temporarily paused withdrawals from its exchange for several days while it assessed the damage from the hack of its trading platform.
The company allowed investors to resume withdrawals on Nov. 1 and saw them immediately pull $3.64 billion from the crypto exchange. Institutional investors such as hedge funds and pensions are said to be particularly worried about the hack at Binance and moving to pull money from crypto investments.
Bitcoin’s Price Movements
The massive $6.3 billion theft has raised questions about the security of digital assets such as Bitcoin and shaken confidence in the security of exchanges such as Binance. Bitcoin’s price has fallen to $77,300 in the days since the hack occurred. At the start of October, BTC was trading as high as $86,000.
Below is a chart that looks at the price movements of Bitcoin over the last three months. As one can see, the price of BTC has gained 22% in the past 12 weeks.
