Binance Lost $6.3 Billion. Why Does Crypto Still Lack Circuit Breakers?

Binance lost $6.3 billion in a 20-minute burst. Austin, Ram, and Chris ask why crypto still lacks the circuit breakers.

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Binance lost about $6.3 billion from its hot wallets on October 29, most of it in a 20-minute burst, in an attack the FBI pins on North Korea. The exchange says it has covered about 95% of the loss, but the shock helped push Bitcoin to its worst October since 2014.

Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins debate whether AI favors attackers or defenders, and Austin argues crypto never built the withdrawal delays and circuit breakers TradFi treats as basic risk management.

They also cover ICE's minority stake in Trade[XYZ] and its plan to run 24/7 Hyperliquid-based perps in the US, the 50 public companies objecting to tokenized trading of their shares on OKXICE, and the roughly $5 trillion AI and chip stocks have shed since October 6.

The episode closes on the midterms, where Austin makes the case that the polls are almost certainly wrong. The only question is how, and by how much.

Hosts

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Austin Campbell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Host of Bits + Bips, Founder of Zero Knowledge Group, and Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ram Ahluwalia⁠ - Co-host of Bits + Bips and CEO of Lumida

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Perkins⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Co-host of Bits + Bips and Head of Franklin Crypto

Timestamps:

🎬 00:00 Intro

📋 00:26 Unchained Survey: complete the listener survey at https://unchainedcrypto.com/survey

🚨 01:33 Binance's $6.3B hack: the 20-minute drain, the FBI's attribution, the fallout

🔐 06:36 Why Ram says digital assets have failed to secure customer deposits

🛑 14:09 Why Austin thinks missing circuit breakers made the hacks worse

📣 18:14 Nexo: Generate daily interest on your crypto or borrow funds against your assets at https://unchainedcrypto.com/go/nexo-podcast-yt

🏛️ 18:40 ICE takes a stake in Trade[XYZ] to run US Hyperliquid-based perps

🧱 24:06 Why Austin calls ICE's growing market portfolio the 'all-everything stack'

🪙 30:21 Why 50 public companies objected to tokenized trading on OKX ICE

📉 40:27 How AI and chip stocks shed $5T as investors refocus on cash flow

🗳️ 47:50 Why Austin thinks the midterm polls are missing Republican voters