Two of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges are feeling repercussions from the lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Binance on Monday. According to blockchain data supplied by Nansen, both Binance and its rival Coinbase saw more than $1 billion in negative net outflow—or the difference between total withdrawals and deposits—in the first 24 hours since the lawsuit dropped yesterday morning.
According to Nansen, Binance customers withdrew approximately $3 billion in assets and deposited only $1.57 billion, resulting in a negative net outflow of $1.43 billion. And Coinbase, the largest exchange in the U.S., saw users take out about $2.64 billion and only put in $1.46 billion, which translates to a negative net outflow of $1.18 billion.
“Higher than normal outflows are expected when news like this comes out,” a Binance spokesperson told Coins2Day in a statement. “Outflows appear to have now stabilized.”
Coinbase did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Exchange, meanwhile, was itself sued by the SEC on Tuesday, which may have led to additional withdrawals. “Outflows accelerated after the SEC announced charges against Coinbase, too,” according to Nansen analysts Aurelie Barthere and Philip Grushyn.
While both exchanges saw billions in deposits disappear, their balance sheets far exceed their negative net outflows. Binance, for example, still holds over $54 billion across its known wallets, per Nansen. And for both exchanges, large outflows in mere hours is not unprecedented. After FTX, a rival exchange, collapsed in November, Binance saw more than $3 billion leave in just one day.
The billions that have left both Binance, headed by Changpeng Zhao, and Coinbase, led by Brian Armstrong, follow the SEC’s blockbuster lawsuit against Binance and Zhao, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday.
The agency levied 13 charges against the company, including allegations that, through “an extensive web of deception,” Binance allowed high-value U.S. Customers to trade on the exchange even though it wasn’t open to American customers. (Binance owns Binance.US, a U.S.-based subsidiary.)
The following day, the SEC filed another lawsuit, this time against Coinbase, alleging that the publicly traded company operated as an unlicensed broker, national securities exchange, and clearing agency.
In separate statements, Coinbase and Binance have each said that they plan to challenge the SEC’s litigation. “We intend to defend our platform vigorously,” Binance said in a blog post published Monday.
And Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, said in a statement to Coins2Day following the lawsuit: “We’ll continue to operate our business as usual.”
