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Qubic halted its layer-1 blockchain after an attacker drained 1,404 wallets. The attacker took about 2.94 trillion QU, worth roughly $1.3 million to $1.4 million, in transfers between 23:42 UTC on 17 October 2026 and 01:26 UTC on 18 October 2026.
Qubic said the cause was weak wallet seed generation, not a protocol flaw. Affected wallets were created in any browser on an iPhone or iPad, in Safari on a Mac before 18 October, or in the Qubic iOS app before July 2025. The incident adds to a heavy quarter for security losses. Hacken reported $1.18 billion stolen across 107 incidents in Q3 2026, up 55% from Q2.
QUBIC fell 5.2% in one day. Qubic said 87.1% of the drained funds remain frozen on its network, while the other 12.9% went to MEXC, which froze the receiving account within about an hour. No date has been given for restarting the network.
Major Price Moves
Market Overview
Bitcoin (BTC), ranked first, traded at $81,815.94 with a 24-hour decline of 1.2% on $25.52B in volume. Ethereum (ETH), ranked second, traded at $2,398.05, down 1.24%, on $15.67B in volume.
Derivatives data shows the selloff was driven by long liquidations. Liquidations totaled $31.77M for Bitcoin across major exchanges, with 81.7% on longs. Ethereum liquidations reached $27.86M, with longs at 63.0%. BTC's largest four-hour window, starting 00:00 UTC on 20 October, accounted for $18.86M, about 59% of the day's total.
Top 10 Gainers
| Coin | Price | 24h % | 24h Volume | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dacity Coin (DACITY) | $0.006058 | 38.40% | $5.38M | |
| Bedrock (BR) | $0.687198 | 37.39% | $52.99M | |
| Dacity Coin (DACITY) | $0.026187 | 36.24% | $19.69M | |
| PHALA (PHA) | $0.064052 | 30.99% | $174.99M | |
| Gitcoin (GTC) | $0.362676 | 26.36% | $147.44M | |
| Collector Crypt (CARDS) | $0.352900 | 23.56% | $31.93M | |
| Dolphin (POD) | $0.664185 | 21.17% | $21.09M | |
| Osmosis (OSMO) | $0.053019 | 18.33% | $26.20M | |
| OpenAI PreStocks (OPENAI) | $2,340.09 | 18.27% | $6.57M | |
| GRVT Token (GRVT) | $0.250821 | 16.04% | $14.36M |
Top 10 Losers
| Coin | Price | 24h % | 24h Volume | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quack AI (Q) | $0.121915 | -24.60% | $53.81M | |
| Bitway (BTW) | $1.710534 | -24.51% | $37.57M | |
| Merlin's Seal BTC (M-BTC) | $51,140.24 | -16.23% | $9.31 | |
| Provenance Blockchain (HASH) | $0.006479 | -11.79% | $71.49K | |
| Rain (RAIN) | $0.008277 | -11.40% | $9.84M | |
| Anubis Bridged LGNS (LGNS) | $0.209842 | -10.72% | $2.54M | |
| Starknet (STRK) | $0.056566 | -6.44% | $173.46M | |
| NEAR Protocol (NEAR) | $4.78 | -5.50% | $1.27B | |
| World Liberty Financial (WLFI) | $0.053912 | -5.37% | $52.90M | |
| The Sandbox (SAND) | $0.057320 | -5.21% | $64.05M |
Top 20 by Market Cap
| Rank | Coin | Price | 24h % | 24h Volume | Market Cap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin (BTC) | $81,815.94 | -1.20% | $25.52B | $1.64T | |
| 2 | Ethereum (ETH) | $2,398.05 | -1.24% | $15.67B | $292.92B | |
| 3 | Tether (USDT) | $0.9993 | -0.01% | $46.47B | $183.04B | |
| 4 | BNB (BNB) | $729.77 | 0.25% | $378.09M | $95.97B | |
| 5 | XRP (XRP) | $1.3013 | -0.91% | $1.65B | $82.15B | |
| 6 | USDC (USDC) | $1.0000 | 0.01% | $16.34B | $72.13B | |
| 7 | Solana (SOL) | $104.65 | -1.12% | $2.71B | $61.69B | |
| 8 | TRON (TRX) | $0.3316 | 0.11% | $212.99M | $31.51B | |
| 9 | Lido Staked Ether (STETH) | $2,395.28 | -1.37% | $8.93M | $23.19B | |
| 10 | Zcash (ZEC) | $1,138.25 | -2.59% | $2.77B | $19.35B | |
| 11 | Hyperliquid (HYPE) | $78.93 | -1.67% | $519.28M | $17.56B | |
| 12 | Dogecoin (DOGE) | $0.0793 | -0.61% | $542.31M | $12.40B | |
| 13 | Monero (XMR) | $608.79 | 1.94% | $137.80M | $11.46B | |
| 14 | Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) | $2,987.86 | -1.30% | $6.70M | $11.09B | |
| 15 | USDS (USDS) | $1.0011 | 0.11% | $105.64M | $10.06B | |
| 16 | WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) | $79.86 | -1.33% | $30.61M | $9.49B | |
| 17 | Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) | $81,574.70 | -1.15% | $113.33M | $9.47B | |
| 18 | Chainlink (LINK) | $11.99 | -1.58% | $280.65M | $9.19B | |
| 19 | Binance Bridged USDT (BSC-USD) | $0.9993 | -0.01% | $522.71M | $9.18B | |
| 20 | Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH) | $2,653.43 | -1.38% | $2.03M | $8.93B |
Other Key Events
BlackRock Files Protected Bitcoin ETF
BlackRock filed for the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF on 19 October 2026. The product would seek upside exposure to IBIT while offering "a level of downside protection." Bloomberg Intelligence's James Seyffart said it is BlackRock's third Bitcoin ETF filing. It is a filing, not an approval.
U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF Outflows Continue
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted net outflows of $228.6 million in the week ended 16 October 2026, according to SoSoValue data. The prior week saw $681.1 million leave. October outflows reached $617.2 million across 12 trading days. The largest single day was 7 October, at -$487.1 million.
Cysic Bridge Exploit
An attacker minted 10 million unbacked CYS on BNB Smart Chain on 17 October 2026 at 12:31:38 UTC. Cysic blacklisted the recipient address 76 minutes later. The attacker sold 7.2 million tokens and moved about $727,000 to Ethereum. Cysic said the attacker accessed a database supporting bridge operations. The bridge remains halted, and the project says no existing user assets were stolen.
In Brief
- Dacity Coin: The token surged after appearing on a plane in Rockstar's GTA VI launch trailer, released 15 October 2026. Rockstar has not confirmed any link.
- PHALA: A Phala Foundation post on 19 October said "A new era of token utility for $PHA. Dropping this week." The post gives no details. CoinMarketCap attributes the rally to sector rotation.
- Bitway: Bitget disabled margin and loan functions for BTW on 13 October and suspended BTW/USDT margin trading on 14 October. No hack or delisting was found.
- Bedrock and Quack AI: No confirmed catalyst was found for either move. CryptoRank put Quack AI's RSI near 87 after a 298% seven-day gain.
- CLARITY Act: The Senate bill stalled after a failed 49-50 cloture vote. Eighteen state attorneys general told the Senate it would weaken their ability to fight crypto fraud.
What to Watch
- BTC levels: Bitcoin needs to hold $81,000 support and reclaim $82,000. Ethereum is pinned near $2,400.
- ETF flows: October outflows stand at $617.2 million. Watch whether daily flows reverse, after 16 October printed -$82.4 million.
- Qubic: 87.1% of drained funds remain frozen. Watch for any movement of those funds or a restart announcement.
- Token unlocks on 2 November 2026: Bitway releases 101.63M BTW, about 1.0% of supply. Quack AI releases 242.42M Q, 2.42% of max supply.
- South Korea tax talks on 20 October: Officials will discuss virtual asset taxation with five major crypto exchanges today.