The number of bitcoins held in wallets linked to cryptocurrency exchange Binance continues to rise, according to data from CryptoQuant.
The total rose to 676,834.84 BTC ($44.53 billion) on Sunday, a level last seen in November 2024. This represents a 9.3% increase from the multi-month low of 618,782 in November. CoinDesk has contacted Binance for comment.
Increasing balances signal investors’ intention to sell or use coins as margin in derivatives trading, both of which typically lead to increased price turbulence.
The weekend high is likely due to a renowned whale moving large amounts of BTC to Binance.
Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham said on Sunday that a crypto whale, possibly Garret Jin, operating on Hyperliquid Hyperunit’s cross-chain asset tokenization and bridging infrastructure, transferred $760 million in bitcoin to Binance. The large transfer took place approximately six days after the entity moved half a billion dollars worth of ether to Binance.
It is unclear whether the whale has since liquidated the coins, but the possibility cannot be ruled out as bitcoin fell from $67,600 to $64,400 during Asian hours early Monday. Since then, it has recovered slightly to trade around $65,850.
