Binance Sinks Into More Troubled Waters With Bitcoin Reserve Declines

• Crypto analyst reported that troubled crypto exchange Binance has depleted its Bitcoin reserve to an all-time low of 16%.
• The analyst says the recent decline of the Binance reserve is reminiscent of FTX’s collapse.
• Elsewhere, the company continues to be subject to many regulatory scrutiny, with many companies now distancing themselves from the crypto exchange. 

Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, has seen its bitcoin reserve drop to almost 16% raising investors’ and customers’ fears as to a possible bank run. According to Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, a drop below 16% would be the lowest ever recorded from the crypto exchange.

The analyst referred to the recent FTX collapse as a pointer to the direction the crypto exchange might be heading. “FTX reserves never recovered once they fell 50% from ATH in Aug-Sep 2021 and their behavior was erratic,” he said in a tweet. While the crypto exchange has tried to reassure its customers, the crypto community and its users are certainly on the edge.

Crypto exchange FTX, which collapsed last year, worsened a crypto winter that had the markets already crippled. A repeat of such events, considering recent speculations about Binance, could have the market hanging on for dear life. Many in crypto quarters have called the Binance bitcoin reserve decline a sign of an imbalance within the crypto exchange. However, to the crypto exchange, in its list of headaches, the decline might be the least of its concerns.

The woes of the company have increased multiple fold in recent times. Yesterday, the company announced the withdrawal of its crypto debit card services in Latin America and the Middle East without giving a reason. Bloomberg reported that both Mastercard and Visa were withdrawing from their partnerships with the crypto exchange due to regulatory troubles. 

The exchange, which recurringly mentioned to whoever was listening that it was regulatory compliant turned out to not be so after all. Regulatory scrutiny against the company has recently increased, with a growing list of regulators across the world taking action against the exchange. Notably, U.S regulators have accused Binance of multiple wrongdoings, including allegations that the exchange and its CEO Changpeng Zhao ran a “web of deceit.”