- Post the SEC lawsuit filed on June 5, Binance experienced a significant decrease in total assets, losing over $8 billion, as indicated by DeFillama.
- Binance’s CEO, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, maintains that some data analytics firms are inaccurately measuring the outflows, possibly conflating asset under management (AUM) changes with outflows.
In the aftermath of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Binance on June 5, the digital asset exchange’s total assets have diminished by over $8 billion, as reported by DeFillama. The assets held by the exchange have fallen to $55.95 billion from the previous tally of $64.195 billion on June 5. Nansen, a blockchain analytical firm, affirms this data, displaying Binance’s aggregated reserve balance as $54.3 billion at the time of reporting.
An asset breakdown across various blockchain networks reveals Binance holdings of $155.35 billion on Tron, $15.29 billion on Bitcoin, and $12.39 billion on Ethereum. Other blockchains like BSC, Ripple, and Solana also house a substantial portion of the platform’s assets.
Further data analysis from DeFillama exhibits net outflows from Binance starting June 6, the day after the SEC’s lawsuit accusing the exchange of federal securities law violations. Despite Binance’s assurances about the security of users’ funds, withdrawals since the lawsuit exceed $3 billion. During this period, the SEC implemented an asset freeze on Binance US and issued a court summons for the company’s CEO, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao.
On June 11, DeFillama’s data showed a noticeable slowdown in outflows, down to $69.57 million. This drawdown, however, significantly falls short compared to the withdrawal volume following the FTX collapse in November 2022. At that time, Binance processed over $6 billion in withdrawals as crypto users migrated to self-custodial services.
Yet, CZ offered a contrasting perspective on June 10. He argued that the perceived outflows might be incorrectly calculated by some data aggregators. According to him, some firms might be conflating changes in assets under management (AUM), gauged in USD equivalent, with outflows. This mix-up might lead to a misunderstanding, interpreting a crypto price drop (which decreases AUM) as an “outflow.”
Moreover, CZ stated that some platforms fail to measure inflows, focusing solely on the outflows. He felt compelled to clarify these points amidst speculation that Binance had converted its crypto holdings into fiat currency.
