Massive Hack Hits World's Biggest Crypto Exchange; UK Home Prices Cool Down

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, was hit by a huge hack that reportedly cost the company more than $6.3 billion. Hackers linked to North Korea are believed to be behind the theft. The breach happened after a hacker broke into a laptop owned by one of Binance's engineers. The news shook the crypto world and sent the price of bitcoin tumbling.

Bitcoin fell more than 3% after the news broke, dropping to a six-week low of about $76,368. It later bounced back a little, trading at around $78,335. Stocks connected to crypto companies also dropped. Shares of Coinbase, a popular crypto trading platform, fell nearly 5%, and Strategy, a US company that owns a lot of bitcoin, fell more than 5%.

Binance said its teams are working around the clock to deal with the problem. The company tried to reassure customers that their money is safe. Binance also worked with partners to freeze some of the stolen funds, meaning they stopped that money from being moved. About $3 billion of the stolen assets have been located so far, but the whereabouts of the remaining $3.3 billion is still unknown.

Binance co-founder Yi He said the company would pay for all hacking losses. That means Binance plans to cover the money lost by users because of the hack. This is a big promise, since $6.3 billion is an enormous amount of money. The situation is still developing, and many questions remain unanswered.

In other business news, the housing market in the United Kingdom is slowing down. The yearly growth in UK home prices dropped to just 0.5% in October, the slowest rate since January 2024. That is down from 0.8% growth the month before. On a monthly basis, the average home price did not change at all in October.

One big reason for the slowdown is that mortgage rates have jumped to nearly 6% on average. A mortgage is a loan people take out to buy a home, and a higher rate means bigger monthly payments. This makes buying a home more expensive, so fewer people are choosing to do so. Robert Gardner, the chief economist at Nationwide, said the slowdown also reflects a shaky economic mood.

Gardner pointed to rising tensions around the world, including conflicts in the Middle East, as factors pushing energy prices higher. Higher energy prices can lead to inflation, which means everyday goods cost more. This has led markets to expect interest rates to rise even further. Higher interest rates make mortgages even more expensive, which puts more pressure on the housing market.

Surveys of home buyers paint a gloomy picture for the near future. Surveyors say that fewer new buyers are asking about homes compared to recent months. On top of that, a survey showed that people in the UK are less confident about the economy and their own finances. Gardner warned there could be further softness in the near term, meaning home prices may stay flat or even dip in the months ahead.