Binance users withdraw assets in June amid global regulatory pressure

Binance’s regulatory challenges in various jurisdictions in June appear to have resulted in a significant decline in users’ crypto assets.

Binance users withdraw assets.

The exchange’s latest proof of reserve snapshot, taken on July 1, showed that users’ Bitcoin deposits fell by 3.5% to 592,450 BTC from 614.800 recorded on June 1. This meant that the platform users withdrew around 22,000 BTC from the platform during the period.

Data from Glassnode corroborates that Binance’s BTC exchange significantly decreased. Per the data aggregator, Binance’s BTC exchange balance declined from a peak of 709,001 BTC on June 4 to as low as 651,275 BTC on June 23 before rising to its current balance of 657,536 BTC as of July 6.

The exchange users’ Ethereum deposits declined by 4.4% to 4.16 million ETH as of July 1 from the 4.35 million ETH held for users on June 1. This means the exchange users withdrew nearly 200,000 ETH from the platform over 30 days.

Meanwhile, Glassnode data shows that Binance’s ETH balance has been on a downward trend since the beginning of May, coinciding with a period when the total number of ETH held across all exchanges fell to a five-year low.

Another major crypto asset that saw its deposits fall over the past month is Tether’s USDT. The stablecoin balance on Binance declined by 1.61 billion to 15.47 billion, representing a 9.45% decrease.

Meanwhile, Binance’s BNB balance bucked the deposits decline trend, increasing by 6.6% to 29.7 million BNB as of July 1. Other assets that recorded increased deposits included Ripple’s XRP, USD Coin (USDC), and others.

Binance regulatory issues

In June, Binance faced significant regulatory hurdles in several jurisdictions. The U.S., various European nations, and Nigeria increased their scrutiny of the exchange’s activities.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that Binance violated federal securities law with its operation, adding that the exchange offered crypto securities tokens to Americans.

While Binance has pledged to contest these allegations, CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has characterized the lawsuit as more than a corporate legal battle – he sees it as an attack on the broader crypto industry.

The exchange lost its Euro payment partner in Europe and exited several regional markets, including Austria, the Netherlands, Cyprus, and Germany. During these exits, French authorities raided the exchange office in France, and a cease and desist order was issued against it in Belgium.

Despite these issues,  a Binance spokesperson told CryptoSlate that the firm’s focus was ensuring compliance with Europe’s forthcoming Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations.