Bitcoin fell 7.3% in October, ending the month at about $77,474 at the 00:00 UTC monthly close on Nov. 1, according to CoinGecko data, after a record $6.3 billion hack at Binance and a rout in artificial-intelligence stocks wiped out an early-month rally. The world's largest cryptocurrency opened October at about $83,576.

For investors in Asia, the slide arrived alongside heavy losses in the region's technology shares. South Korea's Kospi was down nearly 16% for the month by Friday and Japan's Nikkei was heading for a 5% monthly drop, Reuters reported, as worries about AI spending spread from Wall Street to chipmakers across the region.

Ether did worse. The second-largest token fell 16% over the month to about $2,254 at the close, from $2,685 on Oct. 1, CoinGecko data showed.

Bitcoin's 'Uptober' Fails for a Second Year

Traders call the month "Uptober" because it has usually been kind to bitcoin. That pattern has now failed two years running. Last October, bitcoin posted its first October loss since 2018, Reuters reported at the time. It had set a record above $126,000 earlier that month. This year's close leaves the token more than 38% below that peak.

The month started well. Bitcoin traded near $87,100 on Oct. 2, its high for the month, before sliding to about $76,300 on Oct. 30, a six-week low, based on CoinGecko's four-hour price data. Ether ranged from about $2,768 to a two-month low of about $2,179.

October also ended a three-month run of gains. Bitcoin had climbed from about $58,566 on July 1 to its Oct. 1 level, CoinGecko figures show. It now sits about 11.5% below where it started 2026.

Binance Hack, AI Selloff and the Fed Weigh on Crypto

The sharpest blow came in the final days of the month. Hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, with most of the assets taken in a window of roughly 20 minutes late on Oct. 29, Reuters reported. U.S. blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis said they were highly confident North Korea was responsible. North Korea routinely denies such accusations.

"It's the biggest hack in history," Aravind Srinivasan of market maker GSR said, according to Reuters. Bitcoin fell more than 4% on Oct. 29 and ether more than 5%, before both recovered some ground the next day, the news agency reported.

Binance halted withdrawals and set aside about $6.34 billion of company funds to cover the losses. On Saturday the exchange said it had replaced 90% of the stolen assets, partly by drawing on its $1 billion bitcoin reserve for users, and that it remained on track to reopen withdrawals on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Macro pressure had been building before the hack. The Federal Reserve held its policy rate at 3.75% to 4% on Oct. 28 in a 10-2 vote, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack preferring a quarter-point hike, according to the Fed's statement. Analysts quoted by Reuters said the crypto sector was already under strain from higher U.S. rates and softer demand from ETF buyers.

Tech stocks then sank. Alphabet shares fell 12.6% on Oct. 29, erasing about $500 billion in market value, and Intel dropped 23% after hours as investors questioned returns on AI spending, Reuters reported. The Bank of Japan left rates on hold on Oct. 30 and set out plans to speed up its ETF sales next year. Oil headed for a fourth monthly gain after an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bitcoin did not benefit from a flight to bonds. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 4.91% in Tokyo trading on Oct. 30, down about 37 basis points for the month, the biggest one-month drop since December 2023, according to Reuters.

Fund flows told the same story. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs had net outflows of $515.9 million across October's 22 trading sessions, according to Farside Investors data. The heaviest day was Oct. 30, when $643.2 million left the funds. BlackRock's IBIT drew a net $932.1 million over the month, while Fidelity's FBTC lost $754.5 million and the ARK 21Shares fund ARKB lost $444 million.

Crypto Exchanges Face Security Questions

South Korea had a separate security scare the day before the Binance attack. Crypto exchange Bithumb said on Oct. 28 that its in-house mobile system had been hacked and personal information leaked, Yonhap News Agency reported, according to Reuters. Earlier in October, the Financial Services Commission said hacking attacks at 16 South Korean financial firms, including banks, had caused around 100,000 cases of data leaks so far.

Rival platforms moved quickly after the Binance attack. Star Xu, chief executive of OKX, called on X for a real-time alert system that would let exchanges share information and temporarily freeze suspected stolen funds, Reuters reported. Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion linked to the theft and Circle froze $800 million. Bitcoin and ether, unlike stablecoins, have no central issuer able to freeze them.

Mark Karpeles, the former head of defunct Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox, said the attackers probably accessed the private keys for at least two Binance wallets, Reuters reported. Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said he suspected prices could fall further and that a floor would form only after frozen assets were released and more details emerged, according to Reuters.

Binance said users holding 10 listed tokens, including bitcoin and ether, would be able to verify 1:1 backing once its proof of reserves, based on a snapshot taken at 00:00 GMT on Oct. 31, is complete.