Binance Denies Selling Holdings Despite Social Media Speculation

The crypto market experienced a significant correction after the $1.4 billion Bybit hack, which saw Bitcoin's BTCUSD price sink to a low of $78,197

Binance has denied speculation that it has been selling off some of its cryptocurrency holdings amid the latest market downturn, despite widespread social media claims.

The crypto market experienced a significant correction after the $1.4 billion Bybit hack, which saw Bitcoin’s BTCUSD price sink to a low of $78,197, last seen on Nov. 10, 2024, Coinbase Pro data shows.

After the decline, social media speculation arose that some of the largest crypto firms, including Binance, had caused the market crash by selling their token holdings in over-the-counter (OTC) trades.

However, Binance has refuted the claims, saying they stem from a misunderstanding of the exchange’s role.

“Binance hasn’t ‘dumped’ or ‘sold’ large amounts of tokens as some tweets have wrongly claimed,” a Binance spokesperson told Chainwire. “They are misunderstanding what Binance does as an exchange, which is we simply help users match trades.”

Some of the speculation came after data arose of market makers withdrawing large amounts of Solana (SOL) from Binance hot wallets, leading crypto investors to falsely assume that this was the exchange selling its holdings.

Market makers move assets according to “own strategies”

Crypto market maker Wintermute withdrew over $38.2 million worth of Solana from Binance in the 24 hours leading up to 9:02 am UTC on Feb. 24, Arkham Intelligence data shows.

The transfers occurred days ahead of Solana’s $2 billion token unlock, which is set to release over 11.2 million SOL tokens into circulation on March 1.

However, similar market makers operate based on their own strategies, unrelated to the world’s largest exchange, the Binance spokesperson explained, adding:

“As we always encourage our users to do their own research, we encourage the community to further understand the role of an exchange […] and what market makers do.”

Still, industry watchers remain concerned about selling pressure that may come with Solana’s forthcoming token unlock.

Crypto analyst Artchick.eth noted that over the next three months, more than 15 million SOL — worth about $2.5 billion — will enter circulation. Many of these tokens were purchased at $64 per SOL in FTX’s auctions by firms such as Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital and Figure.

Similarly, crypto trader RunnerXBT mentioned that it was a “dangerous” period to buy Solana, highlighting that Galaxy Digital, Pantera and Figure stand to gain $3 billion, $1 billion and $150 million, respectively, in unrealized profits once their SOL unlocks.