Did Binance Sell BTC, SOL, XRP to Pay DOJ’s $4 Billion Fine?

Binance is in the spotlight as online analysts on X question its low reserves and whether the crypto exchange sold its BTC, SOL, and XRP reserves to pay its $4.3 billion fine to the Department of Justice (DoJ). Binance, however, has assured customers that their funds are safe. So, what evidence are these X analysts giving? Did Binance actually sell billions of US dollars worth of crypto? 

Analysts Question Whether Binance Sold Reserves to Pay DOJ Fine

Binance, the biggest crypto exchange, reached a deal with the DoJ in 2023 to resolve a long-standing investigation. Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison, and Binance was asked to pay a $4.3 billion fine. The company has until March 2025 to pay the fine.

Some crypto analysts note that Binance may have sold tokens like BTC, SOL, and XRP to pay the DoJ fine. In an X post, Beanie, a popular crypto analyst with over 217k followers on X, said that the number of token reserves on Binance had crashed between January and February. 

Bitcoin reserves dropped from 46,896 in January to 2,747 in February, a 94% decline. Ethereum, Binance coins, and USDT reserves dropped by over 90% between the two months. Beanie noted:

“As I posted the other day, it’s now confirmed from Binance itself that it sold $5B of speculative crypto assets. Nearly 100% of its reserves. Only kept a tiny amount of Bitcoin. And most of its BNB. It’s now holding mostly only customer deposits. And has barely any long exposure.”

Meanwhile, Marty Party, another popular crypto analyst, worried about the “highly alarmingly low” reserves. His calculations estimate that Binance held about $3.3 billion of BNB tokens, $1.3 billion worth of USDC, and $276 million worth of USDT. Its other holdings are in XRP, FDUSD, SOL, and ETH. 

The addition of all these tokens shows that it has less than $7 billion in reserves, most of which are BNB, its native token.

Exchange Categorically Rejects These Claims

Therefore, X analysts opine that Binance likely sold its reserves to pay the upcoming fine. In a reply to an X post, it rejected the claims and claimed that the asset movements was part of an adjustment in the treasury accounting process. The post also reiterated that customer funds were safe, saying:

“Binance is not selling assets. This was simply an adjustment in the Binance treasury’s accounting process. User funds are SAFU, as always.”

The key concern among users is that dumping reserves worth billions would be risky for Binance, a company with millions of users. 

More so, by having BNB as its biggest reserve would mirror the situation that led to FTX’s crash. At the time, most of FTX’s assets were in FTT, whose value evaporated overnight when it imploded in 2022. Binance has faced criticism in the past. A key issue among regulators has been the fact that it has no headquarters, making it difficult to pursue.

Binance, on the other hand, has historically claimed that it is a safe company. It publishes its proof of reserves to boost transparency. And in 2024, it hired Grant Thornton, a large accounting company, to audit its business. 

So, did the company sell its BTC, SOL, and XRP to pay its fine? As of now, these are just speculations, as Binance has rejected the claims.