The latest report from on-chain tracker Whalewire shows that Binance is experiencing unusual Bitcoin outflows over the past 24 hours, the highest in its history. Whalewire reported that more than 162,000 BTC, worth more than $4.5 billion, left the exchange in one day.
The follower believes something strange is going on with Binance, as the crypto exchange has stopped withdrawals three times today and has been offline for several hours. According to Whalewire, Bitcoin volume is down more than 65% in the past 30 days.
162,000 BTC moved in a day, WhaleWire reports
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been relatively stable and resilient amidst several ups and downs in the crypto industry. However, the recent sighting leaves one speculating on whether something fishy is going on with the exchange.
BREAK: #Binance outflow data confirms the largest withdrawal in its history, over 162,000 $BTC has delisted, valued at more than $4.6 billion.
Do whales/insiders jump off board? 👀 pic.twitter.com/QSXYAEvHkt
— WhaleWire (@WhaleWire) May 7, 2023
Whalewire has drawn attention to the latest on-chain data captured on CryptoQuant. The data shows that Bitcoin outflows on Binance reached an all-time high of 162,000 BTC worth more than $4.5 billion at current prices.
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The data seems disturbing, as it could create fear, uncertainty and doubt, causing huge price drops in the market.
Some respondents said Binance may be moving the coins to cold storage, while others blame it on network congestion.
Binance clarifies the reason behind Bitcoin’s massive outflow
Binance also confirmed this in a tweet posted about four (4) hours ago to assure it is aware of the large outflows recorded by some on-chain trackers. The exchange clarified that it was moving Bitcoin from hot to cold wallets due to Bitcoin address changes.
We are aware that some data shows a large outflow of #Binance.
These ‘outflows’ are actually movements between Binance hot and cold wallets as a result of the BTC address adjustments.
— Binance (@binance) May 8, 2023
True to Binance’s reasons for the massive outflow, the Bitcoin network is experiencing problems, resulting in congestion and high fees.
This is reported by a crypto enthusiast with a Twitter account @CryptoTeaAlexa, there are over 400,000 pending transactions on the Bitcoin network.
Crypto Tea alleged that the Bitcoin network witnessed an exploit that allowed people to upload useless data to the blockchain. According to Crypto Tea, one person alone uploaded 10,000 photos of monkeys to the Bitcoin blockchain, increasing the number of nodes by 1.4 GB. Now the network memory usage has reached 1 GB above a limit of 300 MB.
However, another Bitcoin enthusiast has discounted Bitcoin was rumored to be the subject of an attack, saying the increased usage due to the BRC-20 meme coins was the reason for the congestion.
The discrepancy created bottlenecks that led Binance to move BTC to cold wallets, halting withdrawals while the issues were resolved. It is still uncertain how this problem will affect Bitcoin, but it is price is down 3.29% in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from Pexels and chart from Tradingview.com