Binance Bitcoin Reserves Decrease by $355 Million Amid Rising User Balances
Binance's bitcoin reserves decreased by $355 million last month while customer balances increased by over $4 billion, aligning the two figures more closely. Key points include:
- At the beginning of the year, Binance held 622,192 BTC; this dropped to 618,563 BTC by February 1.
- Customer net balances rose from 575,296 BTC to 615,816 BTC, reducing collateralization from 108% to 100%.
- Tether's USDT reserves fell by $25 million as customer balances grew by $2.6 billion.
- The reason for these reserve shifts is unclear; Binance did not comment.
- Binance holds $160 billion worth of 34 crypto assets, all at a 1:1 or greater ratio against user balances.
Exchanges began providing proof of reserves following the FTX collapse in November 2022, which resulted from an illiquid balance sheet and led to significant industry liquidation.
Bitcoin has recovered from a cycle low of $16,463 post-FTX collapse and was recently trading at $97,373.