Este artículo también está disponible en español.
There have been recent concerns within the crypto community regarding Binance’s recent activities after a claim surfaced that the exchange had been offloading large amounts of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Binance selloff trend was first noted on social media platform X by a market participant known as AB Kuai.Dong (@_FORAB), who noted that the crypto exchange had allegedly been selling off its Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings.
Did Binance Trigger The Market Crash?
The crypto market has endured a turbulent two weeks, with Bitcoin at the center of a series of price crashes. The downturn began as Bitcoin plunged to $92,000 on February 3. Although a brief recovery saw BTC climb toward $98,000 on February 11, the momentum proved short-lived. Bitcoin has since struggled to regain momentum and is hovering around $95,000.
Related Reading
Unsurprisingly, Bitcoin’s price crash rippled across the market, dragging down other cryptocurrencies. On the same day Bitcoin hit its local low, Ethereum fell below $2,470.
As noted by AB Kuai.Dong, Binance may have contributed to the downturn. Data shows that crypto addresses owned by Binance have seen a drastic decline in their holdings in recent few days. Particularly, AB Kuai.Dong noted that Binance had allegedly been selling off a huge part of its crypto holdings, which cuts across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, BNB, and some stablecoins.
On-chain data revealed that Binance has experienced a drastic 94.1% reduction in its Bitcoin holdings between January and February. The outflow was even more extreme for Ethereum, where balances dropped by 99.9% over the same period. BNB, Solana, and Tether USDT have also been reduced by 16.6%, 99%, and 99.9%.
Interestingly, AB Kuai.Dong noted these assets were primarily past revenue generated by the platform rather than user funds. He also pointed out that a significant portion of the sold cryptocurrencies had been converted into USDC, which has increased by 57.5% in Binance’s wallets.
Binance Responds To Market Crash Allegations
AB Kuai.Dong quickly gained traction among crypto traders and investors on X, particularly those searching for explanations for the recent drop in Bitcoin and Ethereum prices. As the biggest crypto exchange in the world, a major selloff by Binance would be one of the worst things to happen to the cryptocurrencies involved.
Related Reading
However, Binance was quick to address the concerns, firmly denying that it had sold any assets. In an official statement on X, the exchange clarified that what had been observed was merely an internal accounting adjustment within the Binance treasury. As such, Binance reassured users that their funds remained safe and secure as always.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $95,740, having declined by 2.6% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum is trading at $2,600 and is on a 4.2% decline in the past 24 hours.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com