Binance has been performing quite well despite the ongoing crypto winter that has affected the operations of most crypto companies. The exchange announced that it was hiring for 2000 open positions at the onset of the crypto winter, as its main rival, Coinbase, announced it would be laying off staff. Binance has overtaken Coinbase to have the largest amount of Bitcoin held on exchanges.

Binance holds the largest amount of Bitcoin on exchanges

The Bitcoin balance held on exchange is the amount of BTC held on exchange platforms. Since the beginning of the year, exchange balances have been declining steadily on both Coinbase and Binance.

However, Binance reported a turnaround, and in May, the exchange’s Bitcoin balances started to spike. The number is still increasing on Binance, while the number on Coinbase has continued to drop.

At the beginning of the year, the total amount of Bitcoin exchanges surpassed 2.6 million Bitcoins. The number is now below 2.4 million, showing a net flow of 200,000 BTC. The decline shows that the supply of Bitcoin is dropping after being removed from exchanges. The trend could show that investors are on a long-term bullish holding trend.

Coinbase has also been reporting a similar trend in its overall balance. Coinbase held around 690,000 BTC at the beginning of the year, and the amount dropped below 560,000 after eight months.

Coinbase has reported a significant amount of Bitcoin being withdrawn from exchanges since the beginning of the year. Additionally, the amount of Bitcoin taken out of exchanges doubled between March and May and doubled again in July.

Institutions in the US prefer Coinbase, which could be behind the figures seen on this exchange. During bear markets, institutions tend to work on a buy-and-hold basis, which could have motivated them to withdraw their coins from the exchange.

The number of crypto on Binance has dropped since the beginning of the year, but the exchange holds more BTC than in January. At the beginning of the year, Binance had 586,000 BTC, dropping to 560,000 in May. In August, Binance had 623,000.

Binance and Coinbase in the bear market

Binance is the world’s largest exchange. Despite the ongoing bear market, the exchange has held its ground, adding a number of global employees and securing influencer deals with top celebrities such as Christiano Ronaldo. On the other hand, despite Coinbase laying off staff, it recently secured a strategic deal with BlackRock.