Capital flight from Binance subsidies: Report

It appears that withdrawals from crypto exchange Binance have largely subsided after its $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice last week. 

Data from blockchain analytics firm Nansen shows that Binance witnessed a net inflow of $87.4 million in Ethereum token deposits in the past seven days. Meanwhile, the net withdrawal of multi-chain tokens, which includes Ethereum, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Polygon tokens, totaled $59.2 million during the same period. In the initial aftermath of the $4.3 billion settlement, Binance users withdrew more than $1 billion from the exchange.

Following the initial rush of deposit withdrawals from @binance last week in response to the news of @cz_binance’s departure and legal challenges, outflows from the exchange have settled

Ethereum: +$86.7M netflow over 7 days
Multichain: -$68M over 7 days

It’s business as usual pic.twitter.com/iMInkTzcBZ

— Nansen (@nansen_ai) November 30, 2023

Since then, Binance users have withdrawn more than $7.62 billion from the exchange, but have also deposited $7.56 billion in digital assets, according to Nansen data. The value of BNB, the official token of Binance’s BNB Chain, remains largely unchanged in the past month at $227.

Immediately after the settlement, Changpeng Zhao resigned as CEO of Binance, followed by his resignation as chairman of the board of directors of Binance.US on Nov. 29. As part of the settlement, Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering and faces up  18 months to 10 years in prison, depending on how federal sentencing guidelines are interpreted. Sentencing is due in February 2024. 

Richard Teng, Binance’s former global head of regional markets, has been named as CEO following Zhao’s departure. In his first blog post as CEO, Teng stated that “I am deeply committed to the promise of blockchain, such as the opportunities for increased financial inclusion, cross-border remittances, and reduced transaction costs. I also see the opportunity to empower individuals to have more control over their personal data.”

Related: Binance launches pilot program for bank custody of collateral