BNB is the strongest major on the board, up 1.39% over 24 hours to $712.50, while Bitcoin and Ether trail at roughly 0.9% and 1.1%. The move tracks one event: Binance reopened withdrawals in phases on November 1 after covering about 95% of the assets taken in the $6 billion hack, and BNB itself is fully backed. The question for traders is whether BNB’s relative strength holds now that the exchange’s worst-case scenario is off the table.
Binance put the recovery in writing in its Recovery Update #4: “user funds remain safe. Binance will absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds, not our users.” The exchange added that “Binance has now covered approximately 95% of the impacted amount, up from 90% in our prior update.”
The Cross-Asset Tape: BNB vs BTC, ETH and SOL
At roughly 02:40 UTC on November 2, CoinGecko data put the majors in a clear order. BNB traded at $712.50, up 1.39% over 24 hours, against Bitcoin at $78,363 (up 0.88%) and Ether at $2,291 (up 1.06%). Solana lagged at $94.86, down 0.70% on the day and 6.43% over the week.
The weekly picture is more sober. BNB is still down 3.55% over seven days, worse than Bitcoin’s 2.07% decline and Ether’s 1.62% slip. Sunday’s outperformance is a bounce off a deeper drawdown, not a new trend. The token fell with the rest of the market after the October 29 hack and has spent the week clawing back lost ground as withdrawals came back online.
The Market-Cap Math
BNB’s $93.7 billion market cap makes it the fourth-largest crypto asset, behind only Bitcoin, Ether and Tether. That is 1.67x Solana’s $56 billion and roughly a third of Ether’s $279.9 billion. The gap to Solana matters: BNB held its fourth-place ranking through the entire hack episode, while Solana lost 6.43% on the week, so the relative-strength trade in the majors has favored BNB.
The scale of the recovery puts the move in context. Binance said it covered roughly 95% of the impacted amount, leaving about 5% of less-liquid tokens still to source. The top ten assets are the important part: “All BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and ZEC balances are fully backed 100%,” the exchange stated. For BNB holders, that line is the difference between this hack and a run on the exchange’s native token.
Why Withdrawals Matter for the BNB Token
Withdrawals are the single most important signal for a centralized exchange under stress. Binance paused them after the hack and said phase one would resume “on 2026-11-01 between 06:00 and 09:00 (UTC),” starting with 15 networks including BTC, ETH, BSC, SOL, XRP and ZEC. The phased reopening, detailed in our withdrawals coverage, is the market’s confirmation that the exchange’s balance sheet held.
BNB carries two layers of exposure to that balance sheet. It is the native token of the BNB Chain, and it is a core collateral asset across Binance’s own products. When the exchange flagged that BNB balances are fully backed 100% and that user funds would not absorb the loss, it removed the tail risk that BNB could be liquidated or rehypothecated to cover the shortfall. That is the catalyst under Sunday’s move, more than any single flow number.
The Countercase
Relative strength is not absolute strength. BNB remains down on the week, and the phased withdrawal rollout explicitly warns users to expect delays: “During the initial rollout, users may experience temporary delays or longer processing times due to traffic volume.” A token that is still 3.55% lower over seven days while the broader market is flat is not yet leading a recovery, it is just falling less.
There is also the question of what happens when the remaining 5% of assets is sourced. Binance said those are “less liquid in the market and take longer time to source at the required scale,” which means the exchange is still a buyer in thinner markets. That buying can support prices in the short run and drag on them if it pauses. The net outflows that followed the hack are the other side of the same ledger: funds left, and the market is still weighing whether they come back.
Binance also flagged the next checkpoint. “Once the investigation is complete, we will publish a post-incident report with further details on the incident,” the exchange wrote, and “resuming withdrawals is a major milestone, but our work continues.” A report that names the attack vector and the full scope of the loss would give BNB traders a firmer read on whether Sunday’s outperformance is the start of a recovery or just a relief bounce off a deeper drawdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is BNB up today?
BNB rose 1.39% over 24 hours to $712.50, leading the majors, after Binance resumed withdrawals in phases on November 1 and said it had covered about 95% of the assets stolen in the $6 billion hack, with BNB balances fully backed 100%.
Did Binance cover the stolen funds?
Binance said it had covered approximately 95% of the impacted amount as of November 1, up from 90% in its prior update. The top ten assets, including BNB, BTC, ETH and USDT, are fully backed 100%, while the remaining 5% are less-liquid tokens still being sourced.
When did Binance resume withdrawals?
Binance resumed phase one of withdrawals on November 1 between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC, starting with 15 networks including BTC, ETH, BSC, SOL, XRP and ZEC. Additional networks and assets will be added as security checks complete.
Is BNB still down from the hack?
Yes. Despite Sunday’s 1.39% gain, BNB is still down 3.55% over seven days, a deeper drawdown than Bitcoin’s 2.07% or Ether’s 1.62%. The recent move is a bounce, not a full recovery.
What is BNB’s market cap?
BNB’s market cap is about $93.7 billion, making it the fourth-largest crypto asset behind Bitcoin, Ether and Tether. That is roughly 1.67x Solana’s $56 billion and about a third of Ether’s $279.9 billion.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
