Crypto traders have withdrawn a combined $4 billion of deposits from crypto exchange giants Binance, Binance.US, and Coinbase following U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuits against the exchanges, according to blockchain data. Nansen and Glassnode data shows that the three exchanges suffered a combined net outflow of $3.1 billion via the Ethereum network and $864 million in Bitcoin (BTC) between Monday and Thursday. This exodus of funds was likely due to the SEC’s actions, which included a lawsuit against Binance and its U.S.-based entity Binance.US for federal securities law violations, as well as a lawsuit against Coinbase for offering unregistered securities to the public.
The SEC’s actions caused tokens such as Binance’s BNB, Cardano’s ADA, and Polygon’s MATIC to tumble during the week, while BTC and Ether (ETH) traded at a significant premium on Binance.US as traders and market makers retreated from the platform. Binance experienced a $2 billion net outflow on the Ethereum blockchain over the course of four days, while BTC withdrawals outpaced deposits by some $838 million (31,868 BTC). Coinbase endured $1 billion of net outflows via Ethereum from Monday to Thursday, while BTC outflows totaled $25 million. Binance.US net outflows totaled $75 million on Ethereum.
Crypto traders, spooked by the regulatory clampdown, took their funds en masse from the exchanges targeted by the SEC, said journalists.