Despite Binance’s DOJ settlement, no mass exodus of funds: Nansen

Though roughly $1 billion in value left Binance amid the company’s settlement with US regulators and founder Changpeng Zhao stepping down, the exchange’s outflows have stabilized. 

Blockchain analytics firm Nansen said in a Wednesday X post that while withdrawals are continuing, “we’re not seeing a mass exodus of funds.”

Binance had seen net outflows — more value leaving the exchange than entering — of $956 million in the past 24 hours on Ethereum as of 6:30 am ET Wednesday, the company said . 

But those net outflows have slowed, as only $17 million had come in the previous hour. 

“ Binance has seen significant exchange outflows since the announcement, but relative to their total holdings, it’s quite small,” a Nansen spokesperson said in an email. “There is still well over $65 billion of assets on the platform.”

Tether ( USDT ) and bitcoin ( BTC ) made up the majority of holdings on Binance, each accounting for nearly $19 million in value at that time.

There remains about $2.8 billion worth of Binance Coin ( BNB ) held at the exchange. BNB’s price was about $231.50 at 10 am ET — down 9.3% in the past 24 hours and down about 1% in the last hour.  

Read more: Crypto assets dip as Binance settlement unfolds — but what’s next?

The US Department of Justice said Tuesday Binance had agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines and forfeitures . The announcement came after an unsealed indictment was made public , accusing Binance and Zhao of violating anti-money laundering laws and sanctions regulations. Zhao also agreed to step down from his CEO post .

Industry watchers have said the guilty pleas by Binance and Zhao could be a net positive for the space — particularly as it appears the exchange will continue to operate.  

In a Tuesday statement on X, Zhao said “Binance will continue to grow and excel with the deep bench it has” — naming former global head of regional markets Richard Teng as CEO.

“It’s positive to see the US DOJ working with Binance to close this out and thereby avoid a Binance collapse,” ETC Group CEO Tim Bevan said in a statement. “Market reaction — BNB coin [and] withdrawals from Binance — suggests so far that Binance can swallow these penalties.”

Teng called Binance’s business fundamentals “very strong” in an X post, citing a separate post by Coinbase director Conor Grogan that claims the exchange holds $6.35 billion in total assets, excluding funds held off-chain or in wallets.

The fine is relatively small given Binance’s financial reserves, argued Stefan Rust, CEO of data provider Truflation — making the company “extremely financially sound.”

“The legitimizing of one of the industry’s biggest players will also help incumbents feel a level of comfort that will allow us all to move forward into a new bull market,” Rust added.

A Binance spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

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