On the evening of October 29, 2026, hackers stole an estimated $6.3 billion from the Binance crypto exchange, marking the largest hack in crypto history. Despite the breach, Binance assured customers that it would cover all losses and still had sufficient funds to fulfill that promise. The exchange's blockchain and its native token, BNB, were not directly affected by the attack, though BNB's price dropped nearly 7% in the 24 hours following the breach. However, it remains up 212% over the past three years.
By October 30, Binance's partners had frozen at least $3 billion of the stolen funds, and the exchange had set aside $6.3 billion to compensate affected customers. The hack temporarily reduced Binance's Ethereum reserves to about 94% of customer balances, but by October 31, the reserves were fully backed again. Importantly, the hackers did not steal any BNB, leaving the coin's supply unaffected.
The value of BNB is tied to investor trust in Binance, as it has no utility outside the exchange's ecosystem. Despite the theft, there is little evidence that users have lost faith in Binance, as the exchange has weathered similar issues in the past without significant impact. However, the long-term investment case for BNB remains weak, as transaction fees on the BNB Chain have not grown over the last three years, undermining the idea that BNB will be a strong long-term investment.
Before the hack, there was no strong argument for buying BNB, and that remains true afterward. While the coin's price has risen dramatically, the lack of consistent growth in blockchain usage suggests that BNB may not be a worthwhile investment in the long run.