Matt Cole, chief executive of Bitcoin treasury firm Strive (NASDAQ: ASST), has observed that the digital asset’s price reaction to the recent record-scale theft at Binance proved milder than anticipated. But this is somewhat expected now given that Bitcoin has been around for 18 years+ and has turned into a global, decentralized, trillion-dollar asset class.
During an appearance on Friday discussing the incident, Cole maintained that the event leaves his long-term conviction in Bitcoin unchanged.He characterized the compromise of exchange wallets as analogous to a traditional bank robbery—an assault directed at a single centralized platform’s operational controls rather than any defect in Bitcoin’s underlying protocol or distributed network.
Cole expressed confidence that, across any meaningful investment horizon, the episode does not alter the fundamental investment case for the asset.
Strive disclosed holdings of 43,000 Bitcoin as of October 23, reflecting the company’s ongoing accumulation strategy.
Market data underscored the contained response.
CoinGecko figures placed Bitcoin near $77,400 by mid-afternoon Saturday, approximately 4 percent below levels prevailing immediately before the Thursday attack commenced.
Cole indicated the drop was less pronounced than he had projected when accounting for both the breach’s extraordinary size and concurrent softness across digital-asset markets.
I use long-term money-supply trends as an important factor in assessing the cost of capital we should be willing to underwrite to amplify Bitcoin. We’ve covered in depth why Amplification Ratio is the key determinant of Strive’s ability to outperform Bitcoin, and why cost of… pic.twitter.com/yY2STDumCv
— Matt Cole (@ColeMacro) October 19, 2026
He simultaneously cautioned that it remains premature to conclude a durable bottom has formed.
In his view, conditions currently resemble an “early spring” recovery stage that may persist another six to nine months, featuring incremental gains instead of an abrupt climb to record highs.
Supporting commentary reinforced the separation between platform security lapses and protocol integrity.
Paul Chapman, financial crime director at Wirex, noted that Bitcoin’s network itself was not compromised; the attack targeted one firm’s systems.
On-chain analytics provider Glassnode identified the Binance incident as the largest cryptocurrency theft by value on record, with roughly $6.3 billion affected—surpassing the aggregate of the next nine largest events.
The prior benchmark was the $1.5 billion Bybit exploit in February 2025.
After that earlier incident, Bitcoin declined roughly 5 percent from near $100,000 to around $95,000 amid the breach and broader volatility.
Anchorage Digital data referenced by CNBC has shown an average 8.3 percent first-day decline in Bitcoin following previous exchange hacks, rendering the present reaction comparatively modest.
Details surrounding the attack continue to emerge from multiple investigations.
Analysts have pointed to a compromise involving Binance’s transaction-signing workflow, including an Ethereum transaction that incorporated numerous pre-signed authorizations enabling unauthorized activity.
The exchange has reported no evidence that private keys were exposed, while its review proceeds.
Roughly $3 billion in stolen assets have been frozen through coordinated efforts with stablecoin issuers and partners, and Binance has stated it will absorb the full financial impact using company reserves, its Secure Asset Fund for Users, and other internal resources.
Withdrawals began resuming in phases over the weekend, starting with Bitcoin and select other networks.
For holders focused on multi-year horizons, such as Strive, the distinction between custodial-platform vulnerabilities and Bitcoin’s core design remains central.
Cole’s assessment suggests that even the largest historical exchange theft has not disrupted the network’s continuous operation or shifted strategic priorities around Bitcoin accumulation.
Market participants will monitor whether the limited price response solidifies into a broader base or faces additional pressure as recovery details, liquidity restoration, and any residual effects unfold.
