Balancer’s $116M Exploit Dominates Crypto News Today as Bitcoin’s Red October Ends

Balancer has become the most discussed topic across crypto forums after the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol faced a large-scale exploit that drained more than $116 million in assets. According to Santiment’s data, the breach targeted Balancer’s v2 pools across multiple blockchains by exploiting a vulnerability in the smart contract.

This exploit adds to a weak market sentiment. Bitcoin, for example, just ended October with a monthly decline. This is its first negative October close since 2018. Santiment’s analysis shows the drop followed heavy selling pressure from whales and long-term holders.

Despite this weak finish, traders are monitoring November. This month has historically delivered strong gains for Bitcoin. Market sentiment remains mixed as participants weigh this short-term volatility against historical performance.

The ORBIO Party on MEXC also featured prominently among trending stories, with a 30,000 USDT prize campaign aimed at attracting new users and driving referral activity ahead of its November 14 close.

Meanwhile, $KITE, an AI-driven Layer 1 blockchain, continued to receive increased attention following its listings on several major exchanges, including MEXC, BTSE, Hotcoin, and Upbit. The project’s rollout was accompanied by futures trading options and zero-fee promotions, drawing interest from traders despite a broader market downturn.

The data further showed that BitMine had accumulated over 82,000 ETH, valued at roughly $300 million, displaying institutional-scale confidence in Ethereum’s long-term prospects.

BlackRock made of both Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase wallets, strengthening signs of sustained institutional participation. Litecoin also registered increased trading volumes and upward price momentum, signaling a possible technical breakout.

Whale transactions have surged across the Binance Smart Chain and Solana networks, with several new tokens recording gains exceeding 1,000% within 24 hours. Analysts attributed the movement to speculative trading and social media-driven interest, particularly in AI and security-themed projects.

However, Santiment cautioned that some of these tokens pose large risks, including phishing and developer concentration, due to ongoing market vulnerability resulting from rising volatility.