Friday morning brings a rare piece of relief for oil markets and another bruising session for crypto: Ukraine has reportedly paused its strikes on Russian oil refineries after pressure from Washington, while Bitcoin slid to a fresh intraday low as a security scare at Binance rattled traders. Here is the morning's top news, gathered from the latest reporting.
Ukraine pauses strikes on Russian oil refineries after Trump pressure
Ukraine's military has paused its strikes on Russian oil refineries after US President Donald Trump pressed Kyiv to stop, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the operations. The unofficial pause began early last week and is expected to hold until after the US midterm elections on November 3, and could stretch further into November. Reuters noted it could not immediately verify the report, and that Russia has meanwhile stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure even as diplomatic efforts to revive peace talks continue.
Bitcoin hits fresh intraday low as Binance security scare rattles crypto
Bitcoin fell to a new intraday low of $76,500.11 on Friday morning and was trading around $78,154, down about 2.1%, while Ether touched a low of $2,174.08 and traded near $2,236, down about 3.1%. The slide follows Binance's report of a potential security issue that left more than $2.5 billion in assets frozen; Binance co-founder Yi He has pledged the exchange will cover hacking-related losses. Traders are also watching a roughly $11 billion Deribit Bitcoin options expiry due later today at 13:00 PKT, which could add to the volatility.
Bithumb to delist six tokens on November 16
South Korean exchange Bithumb will delist six tokens — AZIT, CUDIS, FANC, TEMCO, EGG and STAT — with trading stopping on November 16 at 15:00 KST. The date coincides with Upbit's delisting of ZIL and SOPH the same day, making November 16 a key date for holders of the affected tokens to act.
Kraken to replace 176 spot pairs with synthetic routes
Kraken will replace 176 native spot trading pairs with synthetic routes between November 6 and 9, with cancel-only trading from November 6 at 14:00 UTC and replacements in place by November 9. The exchange says assets remain on the platform and balances are unaffected — a pair migration, not a token delisting — so users holding the affected assets do not need to withdraw them.
Other developments to watch
The US military has denied Iran's claim that it captured a drone, according to Times Now headlines, while fresh Strait of Hormuz tanker reports circulating on Friday appear to be recrawls of Thursday's Iranian statements already covered earlier. On trade, there were no new China–US or UK general tariff moves; comments are due today, October 30, on the US Trade Representative's proposal to suspend shipping fees, with the extension to January 9, 2027 still only a proposal and not yet adopted.
Market snapshot
Bitcoin traded around $78,154 after an intraday low of $76,500, and Ether around $2,236 after a low of $2,174. Brent crude held near $115.44 a barrel in early Friday Asian trading, unchanged from Thursday's level, as the reported pause in Ukrainian refinery strikes offered some relief against fears of renewed US strikes on Iran after next week's midterms.
Sources
- Ukraine refinery-strike pause — The Wall Street Journal, via CNBC TV18 and Reuters: Reuters report and CNBC TV18 oil-market coverage
- Bitcoin and Ether prices — Finnhub live market data
- Binance security issue and Yi He's pledge to cover hacking-related losses — Reuters and BusinessToday
- Bithumb six-token delisting — CryptoWatchDesk, citing TechM
- Kraken pair migration — Dave Finances
- US military denial of Iran drone-capture claim — TimesNow headlines
