Is Binance Selling Bitcoin To Prop Up BNB?

Despite the recent flood of major news in the crypto sector, one topic is more hotly debated than any other at the moment: Is Binance selling Bitcoin on the spot market to prop up the Binance Coin (BNB)? NewsBTC already reported yesterday that the rumor emerged after crypto trader “JW” drew attention to eye-catching data.

However, the rumor stands on shaky legs and data. Still, there are a few data points that experts are calling striking. Popular trader @52Skew stated that he can confirm that “it looks like BTC is being sold for USDT reserves”.

Via Twitter, the crypto trader shared the chart below and explained that USDT reserves have been aggressively pumped into BNB since May 27th. Moreover, BNB is supposedly being sold to BUSD in order to suppress the volatility of BTC:

BUSD is pumped into BTC to suppress downside volatility so BTC can be swapped out for USDT. This is technically market manipulation, Binance is definitely up to something here to prevent BNB from crashing as well as BTC.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao aka “CZ” felt compelled to respond to the allegations a few hours ago. Via Twitter, CZ called the trader’s allegations “FUD” and questioned the data.

“4. Binance has not sold BTC or BNB. We even still have a bag of FTT. It is amazing they can know exactly who sold based on just a price chart involving millions of traders. FUD,” writes Zhao, who also accuses the trader of self-serving intentions: “Maybe they are shorting… who knows.”

Renewed Binance FUD Or Real?

However, the voices about unusual price action on Binance are increasing. Joe Consorti, market analyst at The Bitcoin Layer, states that there is a lot of selling pressure on Bitcoin on Binance that is not present on other exchanges:

More cannon fodder that they may be selling spot BTC to prop up BNB. The $220 level is being staunchly defended – may be a liquidation level for a BNB collateralized loan.

As reported by NewsBTC, BNB is facing a potentially disastrous situation following an exploit on Binance Smart Chain’s Binance Bridge. The exploiter could be liquidated for $200 million on Venus Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) if BNB’s price falls below $220.

In light of this, “Binance critics” suspect that the exchange wants to keep BNB above $220 at all costs to prevent a “liquidation waterfall”. However, the CVD data is not really capable of proving this rumor true.

The cumulative volume delta (CVD) shows the cumulative volume changes based on the trading volume of aggressive sellers versus aggressive buyers. This allows a judgment to be made on the volume of an asset, but not on the source of the volume.

Therefore, until further evidence is presented, the rumor must be dismissed as just that: a rumor. Even if the CVD data shows an anomaly, this may be due to exceptional market activity on the world’s largest crypto exchange.

At press time, the BNB price is up 5.4% in the last 24 hours, trading at $248. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is slightly down -0.8% in the same time period.

Featured image from Markus Winkler / Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com