Binance Hack Sparks 297K ETH Exit From Major Exchanges

The real ETH drain happened after Binance reopened withdrawals. Top exchange addresses bled roughly 313,000 ETH on November 1 and 2, according to on-chain data. That's the second stage of a two-part decline. The first stage? A smaller uptick on October 29—the same day hackers reportedly struck.

TRM Labs says the Binance exploit drained about 200,630 ETH from the exchange's hot wallet. Between October 28 and November 2, exchange-held ETH fell from 3.56% to 3.20% of total supply. Major exchange addresses lost around 297,000 ETH, or 5.4%, in that span.

Don't call it accumulation just yet. Those coins could be sitting in cold storage, bouncing between wallets, or heading to other exchanges. Exchange-address data alone can't track where they went. The drop might reflect a liquidity contraction, not a panic-fueled outflow.

ETH's price isn't cheering either. It's trading near $2,264, below several key moving averages, and well off its October highs around $2,800. Selling pressure is clear on the chart. The $2,300-$2,400 range could act as resistance—a recovery above that would signal better sentiment. But if buyers can't hold $2,200, ETH could slide further.

The big question: did that missing ETH actually leave trading circulation, or did it just move elsewhere? Until market flows settle down, it's way too early to call this exchange supply drop a bullish signal. For now, it looks more like a liquidity shift than a confirmed supply shock—especially on a giant like Binance.