Binance, the world’s largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange platform by trading volume, emptied its cold wallet address of its Bitcoin holdings, worth approximately $1.4 billion, at a time when BTC was trading in the green zone, above the $37,000 price level.
The Binance cold wallet address, 38DN2, transferred all 400,000 Bitcoins it held Thursday, valued at around $1.4 billion, according to data from the crypto intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence.
Of the 400,000 BTC, Binance moved 10,000 BTC to one of its hot wallet addresses, bc1qm, and another 30,000 BTC to a new address, 3F9CGMu7JSJnMHA8jFM2KgxuH6hhxtvENP.
A quick look at Binance’s 38DN2 wallet at 11:53 a.m. ET on Thursday showed that it was already empty, as the billion-dollar transfer had been made about seven hours earlier.
Last month, Binance stirred the market when it made a substantial Bitcoin withdrawal—nearly 20,000 coins valued at approximately $652 million.
However, the last time Binance moved billions worth of Bitcoin was in May 2023 when around $4.4 billion worth of BTC was transferred across its digital asset wallets.
It is worth noting that, unlike hot wallets, cold wallets are not connected to the internet, which gives the impression that they are a more secure way of storing digital currency.
This latest development, involving Binance emptying one of its cold wallets of Bitcoin, came on the heels of the crypto exchange’s launch of its first-ever self-custody wallet.
The latest product, developed to work across 30 blockchain networks, was officially launched at the exchange’s Blockchain Week event held in Istanbul.
“Web3 wallets represent more than just storing digital assets; they are an integral part of the Web3 framework, empowering individuals with the ability for self-sovereign finance,” Changpend Zhao, more popularly known as CZ in the crypto space, said during the product’s launch.
Binance’s Web3 wallet will compete with Trust Wallet and Metamask, despite Trust Wallet being acquired by Binance in 2018.
Bitcoin is still trading in the green zone at $36,609.85 as of 12:06 p.m. ET on Thursday, with a 24-hour trading volume up by 95.80% at $34,769,004,562, representing a 3.74% increase in the past 24 hours and a 4.9% gain over the past seven days.
Data from CoinMarketCap revealed that Bitcoin’s total circulating supply stands at 19,537,543 BTC, with its value up by 4.08% and a market cap of $716,018,391,252.
