Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has published its reserves balances, including cold and hot wallets. According to a Binance blog post, the declaration is proof of its ongoing commitment to transparency and fostering trust in the ecosystem.
The publication shows that Binance holds major tokens such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, BSC, Binance Coin, and Tron. In addition, these tokens are held across different networks, including BTC, ETH, BSC, BNB, and TRX.
Binance has $17.4 billion USDT reserves
While the publication does not show data on all tokens in its reserves, Binance holds specifically over 400,000 BTC, 4.8 million Ether, $17.6 billion worth of USDT, $21.7 billion BUSD, $601 million USDC, and 58 million BNB valued at $17.4 billion based on current prices.
Binance has noted that the balance declaration’s objective is to make its users aware and make informed decisions aligned with their financial goals.
Interestingly, the move is likely inspired by the recent events that hit the crypto ecosystem as rival exchange FTX closes shop after mismanaging users’ funds. In the past few days, FTX has been unable to fulfill its users’ withdrawal requests while its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has declared bankruptcy.
Binance backed out of acquiring FTX
Furthermore, while Binance was linked with a move to acquire FTX, the exchange announced Wednesday, Nov. 8, that it was backing out following due diligence that revealed irregularities in FTX’s books. FTX’s liquidity crunch has impacted several individual investors and VCs.
Moreover, exchanges like OKX suspended the SOL/USDT PERP contracts as traders sought to profit from its price downtrend. Crypto.com also suspended USDC & USDT withdrawals on the Solana chain.
Binance Proof of reserve
Earlier this week, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) advised all crypto exchanges to set up a Merkle-tree proof-of-reserves. CZ noted that while traditional banks had fractional reserves, crypto exchanges should not. He pledged that Binance would do a proof-of-reserves soon.
Meanwhile, through its CEO Rush Luton, crypto price aggregator CoinMarketCap has announced that it will incorporate proof-of-reserves into its exchange algorithm ranking. The feature will likely strengthen the confidence level in crypto exchanges.
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