Black Monday Kickoff, Bitcoin Leading the Plunge, South Korean Stock Market Opens Sharply Lower

According to Bloomberg Terminal reports, US President Donald Trump said he is monitoring the Binance hacking incident and investigating whether North Korea is behind the attack. No further details of the investigation have been disclosed.

US President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran are currently in negotiations over the Iran issue, with no specific details or progress of the talks made public yet. A diplomatic source disclosed that Qatari negotiators have held 12 straight hours of talks with Iranian counterparts in Tehran, and the negotiations remain ongoing. The source added that Qatari mediators have also maintained regular contact with the White House throughout the day, noting: "All parties are continuing negotiations, working to advance a deal between the U.S. and Iran."

Binance released Security Incident Update Announcement #2 at 3:33 AM today, disclosing its 24-hour investigation and asset compensation progress. The announcement noted that at 04:05 UTC+8 on October 30, 2026, Binance’s hot wallet was hacked, resulting in losses of approximately $6.3 billion in token assets. Binance emphasized that it will fully cover all losses via its SAFU Fund and corporate capital, with no losses passed on to users. To date, Binance has secured over $6.34 billion in corporate funds: more than $5 billion equivalent in assets including USDC, USDT, BTC, ETH and BNB are already in place, around 80% of the stolen funds have been replenished, while the remaining portion is being acquired via market and over-the-counter (OTC) channels. Earlier, Binance froze roughly $3 billion in assets on-chain. Regarding the attack’s cause, Binance said initial probes pointed to a compromised laptop as a possible factor, but subsequent investigations uncovered additional intrusion vectors. No evidence of wallet private key leakage has been found so far, with further technical investigation results expected in approximately 48 hours. For next steps, Binance is targeting to restore withdrawal services in phases within around 34 hours, subject to security check progress; it plans to conduct its first Proof of Reserves snapshot within 12 hours, with results to be published by November 2. Additionally, Binance will continue collaborating with law enforcement agencies, blockchain intelligence firms and asset issuers to track and recover stolen funds, and will release a full technical review report.

Beating AI News Flash: According to the Financial Times, citing sources familiar with the matter, Blackstone has informed investors in Anthropic’s latest $63 billion chip financing deal that the AI firm may not immediately obtain an investment-grade credit rating after its IPO, and is expected to receive a high-grade non-investment-grade (junk) rating. This contradicts Blackstone’s earlier guidance that Anthropic would secure an investment-grade rating by the end of the year. The development could limit Anthropic’s financing options, as many insurance and pension funds are barred from making large investments in junk-rated borrowers. Anthropic may need to continue relying on high-credit-rating providers to support its financing. Its prospectus shows the company plans to invest over $800 billion in building computing infrastructure by 2045. Securing an investment-grade credit rating is critical to meeting these targets, as it would enable Anthropic to borrow at lower interest rates to fund its AI infrastructure projects. The group holds more than $112 billion in cash and equivalents, and investors expect it to raise an additional roughly $100 billion in its IPO. In the "Project North Star" financing, over $42 billion in senior loans are guaranteed by Broadcom. The $18 billion subordinated debt has received a BB+ rating from KBRA with a positive outlook, and a BB rating from Morningstar DBRS. A Blackstone fund has invested $9 billion in this tranche, with a yield exceeding 10%. The three major rating agencies—Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P—have not yet formally assigned a credit rating to Anthropic.

According to data from the BIT Stock Platform, US stock losses widened: the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 3%, the Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 3.55%, the S&P 500 Index declined nearly 2%, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) surged 21%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slid more than 8%.

Tether released its third-quarter 2026 financial report, posting a net operating profit of $1.5 billion, roughly flat with the previous quarter. Cumulative net operating profit for the first three quarters reached $4.5 billion, with its main revenue sources remaining U.S. short-term Treasury bonds and reverse repurchase agreements. As of September 30, Tether’s excess reserves rose to approximately $7.95 billion, nearly doubling from $4.1 billion at the end of Q2, an increase of about $3.8 billion. Total reserve assets at the end of the quarter stood at around $191.5 billion, with direct and indirect holdings of U.S. short-term Treasury bonds totaling $132.4 billion, and most reserves allocated to highly liquid, short-dated instruments. Tether noted that the total issuance of USDT remained broadly stable at $184 billion in the first three quarters of 2026. CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company’s reserve strategy aims to ensure liquidity to meet redemption demands during periods of market and financial system stress, while enhancing financial strength through excess reserves.