The Binance Hacker Now Holds More Than 420,000 ETH. Could Selling It Push Ethereum Below $2,000?

Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) traders are on high alert after Binance’s $6.3 billion breach on October 29, 2026, because the hacker behind it controls more than 420,000 ETH and could still sell it off.

ETH fell 4.03% over the past 24 hours to $2,227, a price 54.97% below its all-time high of $4,946.05 reached in August 2025. ETH is trading below its October 29 closing price, its lowest daily close in a month, and its 30-day loss has grown to 17.07%.

How the Hacker Accumulated Its ETH

The hacker amassed that stash by trading stolen altcoins, cryptocurrencies that aren’t Bitcoin, into Ether after breaching Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham. The hacker converted seven different altcoins into 70,480 ETH, worth about $158.25 million, according to on-chain tracker Lookonchain on October 30.

TRM Labs estimates the hacker controls more than 420,000 ETH plus 18,270 Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC), while Nansen puts the total at 442,000 ETH across the attacker’s wallets, a gap that reflects which wallets each firm links to the attacker.

Ether appeals to a thief because its decentralized design means no single company can block access to an Ether wallet. Stablecoins like Tether (CRYPTO:USDT) and USD Coin (CRYPTO:USDC) work differently, since their issuers built freeze functions into the code, and both companies have already frozen funds tied to this breach.

To get around that, Nansen also spotted the hacker depositing about $60 million of USDT into Aave, a lending platform, then borrowing $43.5 million of ETH against it. That trade turns freezable dollars into ether that stays beyond any issuer’s reach. Aave responded by freezing its DAO-operated markets, the ones its token holders control, to new exposure as a precaution, while its existing contracts stayed unaffected.

Arbitrum (CRYPTO:ARB) went further, moving 74,559,805 ARB and 8,425 ETH tied to the exploit into a frozen wallet through its Security Council. That council holds emergency powers over Arbitrum, but those powers stop at Arbitrum’s boundaries, so the ether on Ethereum’s main network stays within the attacker’s reach.

The selloff looks market-wide. Bitcoin fell 3.39%, and Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) dropped 3.89% over the same window, so ETH’s 4.03% slide barely stands out. That modest underperformance is telling, though, since the hacker’s trades so far have pulled ether in rather than out, which suggests ETH holders are bracing for a sale that hasn’t started yet.

Ethereum Was Losing Ground Before the Hack Even Hit

ETH’s bigger wound came before the hack. Over the past month, ETH has dropped 17.07%, while Bitcoin fell only 7.47% and Solana lost 18.21%. That gap shows ether trading more like the riskier altcoins than like the market leader.

Part of that underperformance comes from Wall Street’s ether funds. Spot ether ETFs hold ETH directly and let stock investors own it through a brokerage account. Those funds lost $105.5 million on October 29, with the iShares Ethereum Trust (NASDAQ:ETHA) accounting for $71.7 million of that and the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (NYSEARCA:ETHE) losing $15.5 million.

Big holders also moved ETH onto exchanges in the week leading up to the hack, often a sign of intent to sell, and the hacker adds another potential seller to the market.

On the chart, ETH trades just under resistance at $2,230, where sellers have recently stepped in, with the next ceiling at $2,276. Support starts at $2,195, the low for the week of October 26, and then $2,100.

ETH trades below its 20-day average of $2,406 and its 50-day average of $2,530, showing short-term sellers in control, but it still holds above its 200-day average of $2,159, a longer trend line that falls between the $2,195 low and the $2,100 support.

Could the Hacker’s ETH Push Ethereum Below $2,000?

It’s unlikely the hacker’s stash alone pushes ETH below $2,000. At the current price, 420,000 ETH is worth about $940 million, about 3.6% of ETH’s trading volume over the past 24 hours. Sold gradually over several days, that amount could be absorbed by regular trading without moving the price much.

A sudden, single sale would carry far more risk. Dumping that size onto the market at once could quickly break through the $2,195 and $2,100 supports, since buyers at each level are only ready to buy so much. But hackers typically sell stolen assets in smaller amounts over time, since exchanges flag hacked wallets.

The closest comparison is the Bybit exchange hack, whose thief also took Ether. After that theft on February 21, 2025, ETH closed at $2,655, then fell 15.8% within a week and 24.4% after 30 days. Markets were also facing Federal Reserve rate uncertainty and tariff issues that hit Bitcoin too, so it’s impossible to say how much of that decline came from the hack alone.

Our take is that the hacker’s 420,000 ETH is too small relative to daily trading volume to push ETH below $2,000 on its own, but steady ETF withdrawals and exchange inflows could still drive ETH down, with the hacker’s actions speeding things up.

For ETH holders, $2,100 is the level to watch. A daily close below it, alongside more hacker wallets sending Ether to exchanges, could bring $2,000 within reach. A climb back above $2,276, on the other hand, would say buyers have overcome the fear the hacker created.

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