Binance hacker's frozen-in-place Bitcoin stash is drawing begging notes and token shills

What happened

Attackers drained about 18,270 BTC, worth approximately $1.4 billion at the time, from Binance hot wallets on October 29, 2026. The stolen Bitcoin has not moved since Thursday, but strangers keep sending tiny payments with short public notes attached.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Each note costs a small payment that technically hands the hacker Bitcoin first, so beggars and token promoters are paying to advertise to a thief. This shows anyone can attach permanent messages to a public ledger, which means the stolen stash stays visible and traceable to everyone.

Analyst inference

The frozen coins represent roughly $1.4 billion of Bitcoin sitting still, which removes that supply from active trading for now. Public notes tied to the wallets also keep attention on the theft and on Binance, the exchange involved, rather than letting the incident fade quietly.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Watch whether the 18,270 BTC moves from the 19 addresses it was split across, since any transfer would be visible on the public blockchain and could signal the hacker is preparing to sell. Confirmed
2. Watch whether more people keep sending tiny payments with notes, because each one adds Bitcoin to the hacker's wallets and increases the amount tied to the frozen stash. Analyst inference
3. Exchanges and investigators could flag the stolen wallet addresses so any coins sent onward are frozen on arrival, which means the hacker would struggle to convert the Bitcoin into cash. Proposed

Affected assets

• OP — Optimism
• BTC — Bitcoin

Evidence

• cryptobriefing.com