BitMine chairman Tom Lee said the market’s limited response to Binance’s recent $6.3 billion hack suggests that a bull market is developing. He highlighted Ethereum’s roughly 4 % decline after the October 29 theft, which was more than four times the $1.5 billion lost in the Bybit breach of February 2025.
Lee noted that Ethereum fell 8 % on the day the Bybit breach was disclosed and fell 20 % over the following week, while the Binance figure reflects only the days since October 29. In a statement on November 2, he described the reaction as “very constructive,” pointing to the industry’s handling of an unprecedented security breach.
Factors Behind the Subdued Reaction
Lee identified six reasons for the relatively calm market response:
- Binance’s commitment of more than $6 billion of company funds to cover stolen assets.
- Rapid replenishment of about 95 % of the affected assets using Binance’s treasury and insurance reserves.
- Proof‑of‑reserves verification showing major cryptocurrencies backed at least 1:1.
- Elliptic’s analysis that $2.85 billion, or 44 % of the theft, was frozen or seized.
- Prompt action by stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Circle to restrict compromised tokens.
- Quick attribution of the hack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group within two days.
Impact on BitMine’s Holdings
BitMine continued to buy Ethereum, adding 8,573 ETH during the latest reporting week and raising its total to 6,060,506 ETH, about 4.9 % of the circulating supply. Despite the accumulation, the value of BitMine’s broader portfolio fell from $17.4 billion on October 4 to $14.5 billion on November 1.
Elliptic estimated that roughly $3 billion remains in addresses linked to the theft, primarily in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Binance is working to recover the remaining 5 % of affected assets and plans another proof‑of‑reserves snapshot on November 4.
