The chief executive of on-chain insights platform CryptoQuant says that despite the current rumors surrounding Binance, the exchange’s stablecoin reserves still look quite different than FTX’s did prior to its collapse.
Ki Young Ju is responding to a Reuters story that broke earlier this week reporting that Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao are under federal investigation for potential money laundering violations.
The news appeared to have a ripple effect on the exchange’s crypto reserves: Zhao acknowledged that the exchange saw about $1.14 billion in net withdrawals on Tuesday, but he maintained it was “business as usual” for Binance.
“Things seem to have stabilized. Yesterday was not the highest withdrawal we processed, not even top 5. We processed more during LUNA or FTX crashes. Now deposits are coming back in.”
Ki Young Ju says Binance’s stablecoin reserves look fundamentally different than FTX’s did in November.
“The FTX reserve doesn’t look organic with many in/outflows related to non-FTX wallets, and the reserve dropped -93% already, a few days before the bank run.”
Young Ju says Binance’s Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) reserves also look normal.
“People are asking me if Binance is fine. Their BTC reserve dropped -8% over the last two days but +24% up during the FTX bank run last month. There might be things to be clarified for regulation, but I don’t see any shady on-chain activities for now.”
Crypto analytics firm Santiment notes that Binance rumors are dominating conversations on social media.
“24% of all crypto platform conversations are revolving around the swirling FUD [fear, uncertainty, and doubt] rumors on Binance. AP ArchPublic has reported that executives are allegedly ‘bailing’ & that there are money laundering fears. Read our take on how the crowd is reacting.”
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