Binance Sees Largest Bitcoin Withdrawal, 40K BTC Out

The largest crypto exchange in the world, Binance has experienced the most significant Bitcoin withdrawal in its history, per recent data. The company might face a bank run as crypto investors’ confidence continues to decline following the collapse of trading venue FTX and a U.S. investigation into major crypto exchanges. 

At the same time, positive economic data from the U.S. is positively impacting the market. Bitcoin is back above its previous yearly lows. As of this writing, BTC’s price trades at $17,750 with a 4% and 5% profit in the last 24 hours and the previous week, respectively. 

Bitcoin Rally In Danger, Binance Makes A Stand

Data from on-chain analytic firm Glassnode, shared by Dylan LeClair, indicates that Binance has seen a massive withdrawal of 40,000 BTC in the last 24 hours. The outflows are almost double those seen in July 2021. 

At that time, the crypto market was experiencing a second capitulation event after hitting an all-time high north of $60,000. The cryptocurrency lost over 50% of its value from May to late July. 

In early November, the crypto exchange saw a significant outflow as FTX went belly up. However, the market seems more bearish on crypto exchanges now that at two of its worst sentiments, during the 2021 capitulation and the FTX collapse. 

In addition, the crypto exchange has experienced its worst stablecoin outflow since its inception. Additional data from LeClair indicates that Binance has seen $2.1 billion in outflows in the last 24 hours. There are $20 billion in stablecoin reserves. 

Overall, the exchange has enough funds to cover ten times its withdrawals, but the market sentiment is negative, and crypto investors’ confidence continues to dip. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance, welcomed the withdrawals and classified them as “stress testing”:

We saw some withdrawals today (net $1.14b ish). We have seen this before. Some days we have net withdrawals; some days, we have net deposits. Business as usual for us. I actually think it is a good idea to “stress test withdrawals” on each CEX on a rotating basis.

Bitcoin exchange outflows are often a bullish indicator. In the current context, with inflation declining and a potential U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) pivot, the perception around outflows changed. 

However, there is less Bitcoin on exchanges, regardless of market sentiment. The less the BTC supply on these venues, the more support for a market rally.