Binance’s $6.34 billion hack has triggered major cryptocurrency withdrawals and pushed Bitcoin sentiment to some of its most negative levels on record. However, futures traders are still holding billions of dollars in open positions, according to a new report from Santiment.
The report, published on November 6, examined exchange withdrawals, market sentiment, and futures activity following the October 29 security breach.
Santiment found that Bitcoin’s positive-to-negative social sentiment ratio dropped to 0.37, meaning negative comments outnumbered positive ones by nearly three to one.
At the same time, Binance-associated wallets recorded around 28,316 BTC in net outflows through November 5.
Bitcoin withdrawals continue after Binance hack
Santiment reported that approximately 28,316 BTC left Binance-associated wallets after the attack. Withdrawals were initially suspended but gradually reopened starting November 1.
Across all exchanges tracked by the firm, Bitcoin balances dropped by 38,631 BTC, or 2.92%, between October 25 and November 5. However, Santiment pointed out that this decline began four days before the hack, meaning the entire amount cannot be linked to the Binance incident.
On October 29, exchange data showed net outflows of 22,317 BTC and around 324,640 ETH.
Stablecoin movements also increased. Santiment recorded approximately $1.71 billion in USDT net outflows from Ethereum exchanges on October 29, followed by another $3.94 billion reading on November 2.
The firm clarified that these figures do not mean all the funds were stolen or withdrawn from Binance.
Bitcoin fear rises while futures traders stay active
Bitcoin’s social sentiment weakened sharply after the attack. Between October 29 and 30, its positive-to-negative comment ratio fell to 0.37, showing that negative discussions were dominating the market.
Binance also became the main topic across Santiment’s six most-trending cryptocurrency stories on October 29, taking attention away from discussions about the Federal Reserve, Strategy, and the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.
Despite the negative mood, futures trading remained active.
By November 5, Binance’s Bitcoin futures open interest stood near $8.97 billion, while Ethereum futures open interest was around $8.03 billion.
BNB futures open interest reached approximately $427 million, with the token trading near $692.
Santiment also found that Bitcoin funding rates remained mostly positive and within their usual ranges. This suggests that traders were not rushing into unusually large bearish positions despite the growing market concerns.
BNB also experienced a major increase in spot trading activity. Its trading volume reached $3.78 billion on October 29, the highest daily level since February 5.
ENA withdrawals increase sharply
Ethena’s ENA token also saw unusual withdrawal activity following the Binance incident.
Santiment recorded 169 active withdrawal addresses within a single hour on October 29, compared with the usual 20 to 25 addresses during nearby hours.
The firm’s exchange data also showed 208.62 million ENA in net outflows that day.
Separately, attackers reportedly stole around 217.5 million ENA tokens, worth approximately $40 million at the time, and converted them into Ethereum through decentralized trading platforms.
Santiment explained that these figures represent different activities. The exchange outflow data covers movements across tracked exchange wallets, while the larger amount refers to tokens linked to the attackers.
The firm also noted that ENA does not have an issuer-controlled freezing system like USDT and USDC.
Binance replaces most of the affected assets
Binance said on November 4 that it had replaced approximately 98% of the affected assets using its own company resources. The exchange was still working to purchase the remaining tokens through regular markets and over-the-counter deals.
The company also expanded its reserve report to cover 44 tokens, compared with just 10 in its previous snapshot. Binance estimated that generating the new zero-knowledge proof would take around 50 to 60 hours.
Meanwhile, Binance has asked Arbitrum’s DAO to release 8,425.997 ETH and 74.56 million ARB that were frozen following the incident.
The exchange estimates that the recovery process could take around 49 days, including discussions, voting, and execution. However, the process could take longer if legal claims arise.
Binance has also proposed indemnification agreements under New York law, with any disputes handled by state or federal courts in New York County.