Key Highlights

● Hut 8 shares fell about 5.7% pre-market as crypto stocks sold off after the theft.

● Binance said about $6.3 billion was affected, the biggest crypto heist on record.

● Bitcoin hit an overnight low of $76,400, its weakest level since September 18.

● Hut 8 reports third-quarter results before the open on November 4.

Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) shares were down about 5.7% in pre-market trading as of 4:04 a.m. ET Friday, according to market data, as crypto-linked stocks sold off after a record-breaking theft at Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. There is no company-specific news behind the move. The stock is trading with the crypto complex.

What happened at Binance

Binance said about $6.3 billion was affected in a suspected hack late Thursday, a figure one report called the biggest crypto heist on record, according to a morning market brief. Market data indicated that roughly $6.36 billion was taken across 10 blockchains in about 20 minutes, starting at 20:05 UTC Thursday, and said that is more than four times the $1.5 billion Bybit hack of February 2025.

Blockchain analytics firms TRM Labs and Elliptic attributed the attack to North Korea-linked hackers, according to crypto market reports. About $3 billion of the stolen Assets has been frozen, and Binance paused withdrawals. One report said Binance expects withdrawals to restart by Sunday and has said it will cover all losses.

Bitcoin fell to an overnight low of $76,400, its weakest level since September 18, before recovering to about $77,350, down 3.1% over 24 hours, according to crypto market reports. Crypto futures liquidations jumped fourfold to $1.57 billion. The damage spread beyond bitcoin: ether briefly touched $2,170, and the attacker's moves through decentralized finance prompted lending protocol Aave to freeze its markets across 16 networks, the reports said. Options traders paid up for protection, with the most-traded Bitcoin put struck at $74,000.

Why Hut 8 moves with bitcoin

Hut 8 mines bitcoin and holds a large treasury of it, and it has been building out power and Data Center capacity for AI and high-performance computing customers. In its second-quarter update, the company reported about $8.1 billion in cash and bitcoin as of June 30, according to company filings. Because so much of its Balance Sheet is tied to bitcoin, the share price is sensitive to swings in the token.

The AI angle cuts both ways on Friday. In July, Hut 8 announced a second 352-megawatt IT Lease at its Beacon Point campus with a "high-investment-grade tenant," carrying a $9.8 billion base-term contract value. That Business is tied to AI data center demand, which is itself under scrutiny on Friday after Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) results raised concerns about AI spending and cash burn. Nasdaq-100 futures were down about 2.6% around 8 a.m. ET, according to a live market blog.

Hut 8 trades on the Nasdaq and is part of the Nasdaq Composite. It is one of a group of crypto-exposed names, including Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) and CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK), that market data listed among Friday's early decliners, most of them down about 5% or more.

Risks and what to watch

The near-term driver is whether Binance restores withdrawals on schedule and whether more stolen funds are frozen. A smooth restart could ease fears of forced selling, while further delays or contagion to other platforms could weigh on bitcoin. Not every signal is negative: spot bitcoin ETFs took in $17 million on Thursday, their fourth straight day of inflows, per crypto market reports citing Fund Flow data.

For Hut 8 itself, the next catalyst is its third-quarter 2026 report, scheduled before the market opens on November 4, with a call at 8:30 a.m. ET, according to the company. Investors will look for updates on bitcoin holdings and the timeline for its data center leases.