Vitalik Buterin says ETH should be a store of value as Binance reveals how hackers stole $6.34 billion
Ethereum's creator resets the ETH story while Binance explains a months-long hack
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin says the network should promote ETH as a store of value, an asset people hold to keep wealth over time, instead of relying on burning transaction fees to support the price. His comments drew sharp criticism from some Bitcoin holders and praise from Ethereum supporters.
In other news this week, Binance explained how North Korean hackers stole $6.34 billion from the exchange, an Ethereum researcher moved up the network's quantum resistance deadline, and THORChain restarted trading even after an FBI warning.
The week in brief
- Buterin argued in a thread that the "ETH as fee-burning token never was as strong as it seemed" and said chasing that model would hurt Ethereum's decentralization and capture resistance.
- Binance says attackers posing as recruiters tricked employees into downloading malicious files, leading to a $6.34 billion theft.
- Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake is targeting December 2028 to finish a post-quantum and post-AI transition, one year earlier than the foundation's earlier deadline.
- THORChain restored trading on most networks on November 4 despite an FBI warning not to process funds from the Binance hack.
- Bitcoin ended the week down 4.5% at $74,302, Ethereum fell 6.3% to $2,117, and XRP dropped 5% to $1.11.
Why Buterin wants a new story for ETH
Buterin said in a thread that Ethereum's value should come from stability built on "decentralization and CROPS," a term he used for censorship and capture resistance, open source, privacy, and security. He believes these traits will be valued more in what he called an "era of AI disruption."
The earlier narrative relied on the 2021 EIP-1559 upgrade, which burned part of the fees users paid. When fees were high, ETH supply shrank, and supporters called it "ultrasound money." But fees have kept falling. From January to October this year, median transaction fees dropped from 35 cents to 3.5 cents while daily transactions rose by more than half, making that story hard to sustain.
Bitcoin fans push back, Ethereum fans cheer
Held Media founder Dan Held criticized the move, calling it "ETH trying to pivot to Bitcoin's SoV narrative after all of its previous narratives collapsed. Again." He argued that a protocol with a constantly changing monetary policy cannot be "sound money." Proponents counter that Ethereum has not changed its monetary policy since The Merge in 2022, and that each change has reduced issuance rather than increased it.
MetaLeX attorney Gabriel Shapiro welcomed the clarity, calling it a "nature is healing moment," and said he believes ETH can be a better store of value than both ZEC and BTC. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko said Buterin was "absolutely right" that a network cannot focus on fees as the product, though he then took a subtle dig at Ethereum's product.
How the $6.34 billion Binance hack unfolded
Binance says North Korean hackers first breached its systems in June, when an employee downloaded a tampered Homebrew installation while trying to install an AI coding tool. The exchange detected the incident quickly, but the attackers had already gathered information about employees working on Binance's wallet infrastructure.
In September, attackers posing as recruiters targeted another software engineer and tricked the employee into downloading a malicious file disguised as a coding assignment. On October 20, they used the compromised computer and an internal AI tool to reach two more engineers' systems and deploy malware. They then gained access to the exchange's internal wallet-signing service, which let them steal billions.
"This wasn't one mistake or one breach — it was a months-long campaign," Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said in a Tuesday post on X.
Ethereum moves up its quantum resistance goal
Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake said at Devcon 8 in Mumbai on Tuesday that he is targeting December 2028 to complete the network's post-quantum and post-AI transition. That is a year earlier than the December 2029 deadline the foundation set in its September roadmap. "Our hope is that by December 2028 we'll be able to wrap up the full post-quantum and post-AI transition," Drake said. He added that developers have 24 months to deliver three more network upgrades.
However, the roadmap is currently stalled. Core developers have delayed the Glamsterdam upgrade indefinitely until security concerns tied to eight smart contract invariants are resolved.
THORChain restarts and ignores the FBI
THORChain, a decentralized exchange protocol where users swap tokens without a central operator, restored trading on most networks on November 4, ignoring an FBI warning not to process funds from the Binance hack. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Tron, and Zcash trading were re-enabled. Avalanche, Base, and XRP were already operating. The RUNE token gained 15% in 24 hours on the news.
Chainalysis reported that THORChain processed more than $46 million from the hack in the first 72 hours and earned $200,000 in fees, according to the Wall Street Journal. Trading had been halted automatically by an unrelated Ethereum block reorganization.
Co-founder JPThor said the FBI's warning having no effect proved the protocol is decentralized. "The fact that the FBI did in fact call out the protocol — and nobody could do anything — means in fact the protocol is decentralised. Nobody in their right mind in a western country would flagrantly ignore a direction like that," he said.
Weekly winners and losers
The total crypto market cap stood at $2.49 trillion according to CoinMarketCap. Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the biggest weekly gainers were Pieverse (PIEVERSE) up 39.2%, Injective (INJ) up 11.1%, and Tether Gold (XAUt) up 4.2%. The biggest losers were OFFICIAL TRUMP down 32.8%, Worldcoin (WLD) down 20.8%, and Ethena (ENA) down 19%.
Analysts weigh the hack's impact
Grayscale's Pandl suggested the $6.3 billion Binance hack could be a temporary setback for confidence in crypto. This is an opinion from one firm, not a confirmed outcome.
What is confirmed, and what is not
Confirmed by primary sources: Buterin's thread, Binance's account of the hack from co-CEO Richard Teng, Drake's timeline at Devcon 8, and THORChain's restart with the co-founder's statement. The Chainalysis figure of $46 million processed and the Wall Street Journal's $200,000 fee figure are reported by those outlets. The Grayscale view is opinion. The full impact of the hack on the market and on THORChain's exposure remains unclear.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.