ETFs and Corporate Wallets Withdraw Significant Amounts of Bitcoin from Exchanges
Recent trends show a substantial move of Bitcoin assets from exchanges to ETFs and corporate treasuries, marking a notable shift in market dynamics.
Bitcoin reserves on centralized exchanges have decreased to levels reminiscent of 2019. According to crypto market analyst Dark Fost, exchange reserves have experienced a continuous decline since 2022, a trend that escalated following the collapse of the FTX exchange.
Movement of Bitcoin Supply
In November 2022, over 325,000 BTC were withdrawn from exchanges as investors opted to keep their assets off centralized platforms. Consequently, active BTC reserves on exchanges open to retail traders have now reduced to about 2.7 million BTC.
Binance alone holds around 20% of the current reserves. Including platforms catering to professional traders, Coinbase Advanced leads with close to 800,000 BTC, which is about 200,000 BTC less than the figures from July 2025.
Dark Fost asserted that the FTX collapse significantly impacted investors’ decisions to keep assets in private wallets. Two additional factors facilitating this shift include the recent introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January 2024, which have garnered roughly 1.3 million BTC—representing around 6.7% of Bitcoin’s total supply, thus reducing liquidity in exchanges.
Moreover, digital asset treasury companies (DATs) collectively manage about 1.1 million BTC, nearly 5% of the total supply. This trend indicates an increasing portion of Bitcoin supply being retained within structured financial entities.
“Over the long term, this transformation could play an important role in market liquidity and price formation, even if these structural effects always take time to fully materialize.”
Geopolitical Influences on Bitcoin
During this shift in supply dynamics, Bitcoin faced pressure in the markets as it commenced March amidst escalating tensions in the Middle East. The cryptocurrency recently struggled with a breakout attempt beyond $70,000, influenced by the ongoing US-Iran conflict. Despite the downturn, crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe indicated that BTC’s performance does not reflect a dire scenario.
In a recent update on X, the trader remarked that Bitcoin remains within a trading range but shows resilience given the present market conditions. He noted that oil prices surged approximately 15% recently to their highest rates since 2022, implying that should the US stock market open positively and oil prices stabilize, Bitcoin could regain its momentum toward $70,000.
