Binance Uncovers Further Security Breaches in $6.3B Hack as AI Fears Pressure Tech Stocks

A $6.3 billion security breach at Binance has added fresh uncertainty to cryptocurrency markets, while disappointing corporate forecasts and growing concerns about artificial intelligence spending have intensified the selloff in technology stocks. The Invesco QQQ ETF has fallen more than 2% as investors reassess the outlook for major tech companies.

Gold Drops Below $4,000 as Precious Metals Lose Safe-Haven Appeal

Despite falling equity markets, precious metals have failed to attract the usual safe-haven demand. Gold extended its months-long decline, slipping 1.5% to approximately $3,970 per ounce on Friday. The metal had climbed above $5,300 earlier this year.

Silver suffered a steeper decline, falling 4.3% to around $50 per ounce. It has now lost more than half its value since reaching above $100 in February.

Platinum and palladium also traded sharply lower, continuing the volatile boom-and-bust patterns seen across precious metals in recent months.

French Economy Contracts as Inflation Accelerates

France’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to government figures. GDP had previously declined 0.2% in the first quarter before remaining unchanged in the second quarter.

The economic weakness coincided with rising inflation. Consumer prices increased 3.4% in October, compared with 3.1% in September.

Finance Minister Roland Lescure described the economy as effectively stagnant and warned that failing to implement the recovery measures outlined in the national budget could lead to serious consequences.

French government bonds also came under renewed pressure. The yield on the country’s 10-year OAT rose nine basis points to 4.97%, while Germany’s 10-year Bund yield declined two basis points to 3.339%, widening the gap between the two borrowing costs.

Expectations for December Fed Rate Hike Decline

Market expectations for another Federal Reserve rate increase in December have weakened as investors move toward safer fixed-income assets amid the technology selloff.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury dropped another eight basis points to 4.90% early Friday, reaching its lowest level since before the Fed’s September rate increase. The two-year Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to near-term monetary policy expectations, fell nine basis points to 4.655%.

Markets now assign a 70% probability to a December rate hike, down from nearly 90% during Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s post-meeting press conference on Wednesday.

Nasdaq 100 futures also extended their decline, falling 2.7% to session lows. Intel shares plunged approximately 25%, while Amazon dropped 7% after both companies released weaker-than-expected outlooks.

WTI Crude Approaches $104 as Oil Prices Rise

Oil prices added to the pressure on financial markets. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained approximately 1% over 24 hours to reach $104 per barrel, approaching a 50-day high.

Traders are now watching whether prices can break above September’s peak of just under $107 per barrel.

Binance Uncovers Additional Security Breaches in $6.3 Billion Incident

Binance said its investigation into the estimated $6.3 billion security breach has identified additional points of compromise, expanding the inquiry beyond the employee laptop initially suspected of providing attackers access to its systems.

In an update posted on X, the exchange said its preliminary investigation had pointed to a potentially compromised laptop, but subsequent findings revealed other possible entry points.

Binance added that unauthorized withdrawals had stopped following its suspension of the service. The exchange remained on schedule to restore withdrawals within approximately 45 hours.

With assistance from blockchain companies and law enforcement agencies, Binance has frozen around $3 billion worth of the stolen assets.

CZ Asks Elon Musk to Stop Mocking Binance Over Hack

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao urged Elon Musk to stop making jokes about the exchange’s $6.3 billion security breach, pointing to Binance’s financial support for Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.

Musk had responded with a grimacing emoji to a discussion about Binance’s losses and its ability to cover the damage.

Zhao replied that he respected Musk but considered the timing inappropriate, asking him to stop trolling the exchange.

He also highlighted Binance’s $500 million investment in Musk’s Twitter takeover in October 2022, saying the shares were now worth more than $1 billion. Zhao had previously described the investment as a way to bring cryptocurrency and social media closer together.

He concluded by asking Musk to show some support during the difficult period.

Intel and Amazon Shares Fall as AI Investment Concerns Grow

The technology selloff deepened as investors reacted to disappointing corporate guidance and rising concerns about the cost of artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The Binance breach added another source of uncertainty to cryptocurrency markets. The exchange estimated the incident’s impact at $6.3 billion, with approximately $3 billion in assets subsequently frozen. Binance attributed the initial findings to a potentially compromised employee laptop and pledged to cover the losses. Investigators also linked the attack to North Korea.

The exchange suspended withdrawals as Bitcoin dropped below $77,000 before recovering to just under $78,000.

Intel shares fell approximately 25% after the company issued a weak fourth-quarter outlook, overshadowing 21% revenue growth to $16.51 billion. Revenue from its data center and AI business increased 78%, but supply constraints and weaker PC demand raised concerns about future performance.

Intel also increased its planned capital expenditure for 2026 to $20 billion, adding to investor worries about the scale of technology companies’ AI investments.

Amazon reported a 12% increase in revenue to $201.9 billion, while its AWS cloud division recorded 39% growth to $46 billion. However, weaker retail demand weighed on its fourth-quarter forecast.

The company also raised its 2026 capital spending projection to $220 billion. Its annual free cash flow declined to negative $42.4 billion amid substantial investment in AI infrastructure.

The pressure extended to companies operating in the AI infrastructure and neocloud sectors. Cipher Mining, TeraWulf and IREN each fell approximately 5% as investors continued reassessing the returns expected from heavy technology spending.

Precious metals also remained under pressure, with gold trading below $4,000 per ounce and silver hovering near $50.

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