The volume of ERC-20 stablecoins on Binance has dropped to $31.4 billion — the lowest level since December 2024. The outflow of "dry powder" from the largest exchange reduces buyers' potential to keep the Bitcoin price from falling further.
The decline in reserves coincided with a market correction: on November 13, the Bitcoin price fell below $70,000 for the first time since August. Stablecoins in exchange accounts traditionally serve as a reserve for future trades — and the smaller it is, the weaker the demand capable of halting the sell-off.
Reserve returned to end-2024 level
As of November 12, the volume of ERC-20 stablecoins on Binance declined to $31.4 billion — that is $910 million, or 2.82%, less than the December 16, 2024 level ($32.31 billion).
Almost the entire reserve consists of USDT: the exchange held $29.5 billion in it and only $1.92 billion in USDC as of November 13. This is noticeably less than the 2024 peak of $2.5 billion. For traders, this means that the liquidity of the largest exchange depends mainly on a single stablecoin.
Binance nonetheless remains the leader. All other centralized exchanges hold $18.4 billion in ERC-20 stablecoins, and the total volume is approaching $49.8 billion. The share of the largest trading platform is 63.1%: it holds roughly $13 billion more than all competitors combined.
Key takeaway: Binance's reserve has rolled back to end-2024 values, the exchange's liquidity still relies on USDT, and sellers are once again pressuring the BTC price. If the decline continues, traders on the exchange will have fewer stablecoins that can be immediately spent on buying coins.
Unscheduled reserve report after the hack
The exchange published a new reserve report with data as of November 12. The documents show whether the platform has enough assets to cover all client funds. The company usually updates the data once a month, but it conducted this check additionally — after the October 29 hack, which affected about $6.34 billion in cryptocurrencies. Binance representatives stated that the stolen assets have been fully replenished.
Client holdings in BTC have grown by 0.35%, or 2,388 coins, since November 4 — to approximately 687,900 BTC. Balances in ETH increased by 1.04%, to 3.48 million ETH, and in BNB — by 1.03%, to 42.95 million tokens. Only USDT reserves decreased: by 3.68%, or $928 million, to 24.3 billion USDT.
Expert Asylbek Aitmatov called the lost time the main hidden consequence of the hack for clients: the exchange compensated the losses, but withdrawals were closed for about 48 hours. He also reminded that the updated reserve data remains the exchange's self-report for now, and the market should wait for an independent audit, which Binance is only promising. Some social media users doubted the North Korean trace of the attack and suggested that insiders hacked the exchange, although the FBI and Binance itself insist on North Korea's involvement. Such disputes undermine trust in the platform, which is why reserve transparency is especially important for clients.
The last three months have been Binance's record period since 2021 in terms of liquidation volume — the forced closure of positions with borrowed funds. Mass closure of such positions during growth phases often coincided with the end of a correction, but the outflow of stablecoins from the exchange could slow the price recovery.
Cryptalist analysis: A 2.82% decline in stablecoin reserves with USDT dominance (94% of volume) creates asymmetric risk: the exchange's purchasing power is melting faster than fresh capital is flowing in. Combined with record liquidations and questions about transparency after the hack, this creates conditions for heightened BTC volatility near the $70,000 level. A sustained recovery is unlikely without stablecoins returning to exchange accounts.