Trading Platforms

187,000 BTC Drained: Over $2 Billion in Bitcoin Leave the Top Exchanges Since June

16/10/2020 by Idelto Editor

Cryptocurrency reserves held on digital asset exchanges have been dropping to new lows, as some of the top exchanges have seen significant bitcoin reserve balance drops. A few months ago trading platforms had a lot more bitcoin reserves on hand and onchain data shows a few exchanges have seen customers steadily drain 187,000 bitcoins ($2.1B) from exchange-owned cold wallets.

In February, Coinbase had 1 million bitcoin under management and today reserves are down over 9% as 92,000 bitcoin ($1B) has left the exchange. Today, according to Bituniverse’s online exchange balance rank tracker, the San Francisco trading platform has 908,560 BTC under management.

36,000 BTC ($408M) left Coinbase since news.Bitcoin.com’s reserves report published on June 30, 2020. A number of top exchanges below Coinbase have also seen cold wallets drained during the last three months.

The top seven exchanges in terms of balance holdings on June 30, 2020, according to Bituniverse’s exchange balance rank tracker.

The second-largest exchange in terms of bitcoin reserves held is Huobi and the trading platform is down over 53,000 BTC ($601M) since June 30. Binance’s balances remained the same as the exchange holds 266,000 BTC today and three months ago, Binance held 269k BTC. Similarly, the fourth-largest reserve holder, Bitfinex, didn’t see much movement in the last three months.

The top seven exchanges in terms of balance holdings on October 16, 2020, according to Bituniverse’s exchange balance rank tracker.

Three months ago, Okex had 240,000 BTC on hand but today, Okex only has 198,000 BTC in reserves. This means 42,000 BTC left Okex since June as 17.5% left the exchange in the last three months.

Statistics show out of the top five crypto trading platforms over 187,000 BTC ($2.1B) has left these exchanges since the June report.

Just recently, Bitmex had some legal troubles with the U.S. government and since the incident, a lot of bitcoin has left the derivatives exchange. Three months ago Bitmex had 224 BTC in reserves and today the exchange only has 113,000 in cold storage. Onchain data indicates Bitmex lost a whopping 49.55% in BTC reserves since June 30.

At the time of publication, Glassnode’s “Exchange Balance vs. Bitcoin” stats show that there’s 2.7 million BTC held on exchanges today. Glassnode’s stats indicate that out of the 21 million BTC cap, exchanges hold 12.85% of all that will exist, and 14.59% of the 18.5 million BTC in circulation.

1.8 million BTC out of the aggregate 2.7 million BTC held on exchanges sits in the world’s top five crypto trading platforms. The top five custodial platforms by BTC reserve status include Coinbase, Huobi, Binance, Bitfinex, and Okex.

Exchange balances have been riding lower consecutively for the last 15 months and the last time balances were this low was around May 2019. To many crypto enthusiasts and traders, the low balances on exchanges suggest users are storing assets in a noncustodial fashion as opposed to leaving funds with a third party.

The data from Bituniverse and Glassnode also suggests that liquidity and selling pressure may lower.

What do you think about the low number of bitcoins held collectively on global exchanges today? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.

The post 187,000 BTC Drained: Over $2 Billion in Bitcoin Leave the Top Exchanges Since June appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin Exchange Reserves Drop to a 12-Month Low Fueling Bullish Optimism

30/07/2020 by Idelto Editor

The number of bitcoin held on exchanges has touched a 12-month low, as bitcoin exchange balances have reached levels not seen since June 2019. According to onchain statistics, there’s more than 2.6 million BTC held on global trading platforms worldwide.

Data from a number of sources show that the bitcoin (BTC) held on exchanges has dropped to a low not seen in over a year. This statistic gives crypto proponents bullish optimism, as the last time BTC exchange balances were this low the price of bitcoin (BTC) jumped very close to the $13k range last summer.

As of July 30, 2020, according to Glassnode’s “Exchange Balance vs. Bitcoin: Price” stats, there are 2.6 million BTC on global exchanges.

The number of bitcoins held on exchanges did see a brief low during the market rout on March 12, otherwise known as ‘Black Thursday.’ News.Bitcoin.com’s collected data had shown in April that crypto exchanges saw bitcoin reserves drop by 70% since that day in mid-March.

In mid-May more than $220M in BTC was withdrawn from crypto trading platforms worldwide since the third halving.

The cryptocurrency data and analytics company Arcane Research tweeted that the low number of BTC held on exchanges means investors prefer to hold rather than sell.

“BTC deposits at major exchanges have dropped significantly since April and are currently at the low-levels of May 2019,” Arcane noted. “This suggests that more users prefer to store their BTC in private wallets, which may lead to a lower selling pressure in the upcoming months.”

However, other speculators think that the funds are funneling into alternative crypto assets rather than bitcoin (BTC). “Probably also reflective of the ability for people to buy alts directly from fiat, rather than first through BTC,” one individual replied to Arcane’s recent tweet.

For instance, market data shows that while BTC is up 19% during the last month, money flowing into ETH pushed the price up by over 40% in the last 30-days. XRP’s 30-day stats show gains over 38% and bitcoin cash (BCH) jumped 27% last month.

Today on July 30, the top five exchanges with the largest number of BTC reserves include Coinbase, Huobi, Binance, Bitfinex, and Okex.

Just recently, the San Francisco-based exchange Coinbase was responsible for 1 million BTC worth of reserves and today the trading platform only has 944,000 BTC according to the Bituniverse “Exchange Balance Rank” metric.

What do you think about the low number of bitcoins held collectively on global exchanges today? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.

The post Bitcoin Exchange Reserves Drop to a 12-Month Low Fueling Bullish Optimism appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Crypto Exchanges See Bitcoin Reserves Drop by 70% Since Black Thursday’s Market Rout

12/04/2020 by Idelto Editor

Since the market carnage on March 12 otherwise known as Black Thursday, the exchange Bitmex has seen 36% of the trading platform’s bitcoin reserves withdrawn. A few other well-known crypto exchanges have seen cold wallets drained, while other trading platforms have witnessed reserve increases.

Also read: Spain’s Lawmakers Plan to Provide Basic Income to Low-Income Residents

Bitmex Customers Withdraw 36% of the Exchange’s Bitcoin Reserves Since March 12

At the end of January, seven exchanges held more than $25 billion worth of bitcoin, ether, and the stablecoin tether. With the current market uncertainty in the air, a few speculators would expect a massive amount of coins to be withdrawn to noncustodial solutions or sold. Most of the withdrawals and largest transfers of BTC out of exchanges started on March 12, 2020. The day before Black Thursday, Bitmex had more than 306,000 BTC held in reserves and now the exchange has 228,000. This means Bitmex customers removed 36% of the BTC holdings the firm held in its possession and transferred the funds elsewhere. Data shows that Coinbase saw a number of withdrawals between January 25 until now, but still has 1 million BTC in reserves. Of course, on January 25, the stash Coinbase held was worth $8.57 billion and today those BTC reserves are only worth $6.92 billion.

Huobi has seen 9.38% of its BTC reserves removed from the exchange, after dropping from 469K BTC on January 25 to 425K on April 12. The third-largest exchange by the number of BTC reserves, Binance didn’t see much movement since that day either and the trading platform has gained 0.32% in BTC reserves since then.

Bitfinex joins Bitmex with a number of large withdrawals during the last three months, as it’s lost 29% of its BTC reserves since January 25. That week at the end of January, Bitmex was the fifth largest exchange by reserves in BTC but today Okex has taken the fifth position. Bitmex is now the sixth-largest with $1.58 billion worth of BTC and Kraken follows behind the exchange with $1.29 billion worth of crypto reserves.

Bitstamp Clients Withdraw 72% and Kraken Customers Withdraw 24% Since January 25

Bitstamp held the sixth position back in January but since then, the exchange has dropped to the 11th position. Onchain reserve stats had shown that at the end of January Bitstamp had 242K BTC in reserves, but today there’s only 66K BTC on the exchange. That means a whopping 72% has been transferred off of the trading platform. During the last three months, Kraken has seen 24% of its BTC reserves transferred, as it once held 173K BTC and now only holds 130K BTC in reserves. Notable exchanges that have seen increases during the last three months include Bittrex (113K BTC), Bitflyer (92K BTC), and Gemini (70K BTC).

On Sunday, April 12, BTC prices crossed over the $7K mark again, but have been fighting resistance at the $6,975-7,100 zones. Three months ago news.Bitcoin.com reported that seven trading platforms held more than $25 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. Since then and even after proof-of-keys day, the top seven exchanges today hold $21 billion worth of digital assets. The change in value is due to people transferring funds but that’s only a small part of the equation. The $4 billion in value removed since January, has mostly to do with the price of BTC today rather than withdrawals. The withdrawals only pushed some exchanges down below the prior positions held at the end of January. Now there’s a slew of new exchanges who have more reserves than they did back then.

What do you think about the number of BTC withdrawn from certain exchanges? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Crypto Exchanges See Bitcoin Reserves Drop by 70% Since Black Thursday’s Market Rout appeared first on Bitcoin News.

12 Platforms Allowing You to Trade Gift Cards With Cryptocurrencies

19/03/2020 by Idelto Editor

In an emergency situation like the current coronavirus pandemic, anything can turn into currency as the fiat system may experience cash shortages and devaluation. Cryptocurrency users have options to trade bitcoin beyond traditional money. A number of platforms will let you exchange retailers’ gift cards with digital coins or sell you just about any gift card for crypto.

Also read: If You Don’t Trust Yourself, These Crypto Vaults Will Help You Hodl Safely

How to Sell Gift Cards on P2P Exchanges

One of the exchanges that facilitate gift card-crypto trades is Paxful, a leading peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace with global presence. It supports purchases and sales of BTC using a wide variety of payment methods. You can trade over a hundred gift cards for crypto through its website. Popular options include cards issued by well-known retailers such as Amazon, Ebay, Google Play, and Walmart. Domino’s, Uber, and T-Mobile refill cards as well as any Visa, Mastercard or Amex gift cards are also accepted.

If you have an Amazon gift card you don’t need but are looking to acquire cryptocurrency, Purse is an online platform that will help you get rid of the card and buy coins quite easily. It offers you to pay for someone’s orders on Amazon and earn BTC or BCH in exchange, while allowing the other side to spend some bitcoin. Once a shopper confirms the merchandise has arrived, you’ll receive the crypto from escrow. Purse can also convert points and credits earned from Mechanical Turk, Amazon Associates, Ebates, Swagbucks, and others.

12 Platforms Allowing You to Trade Amazon, Ebay and Other Gift Cards With Cryptocurrencies — Purse helps you to sell gift cards for BCH and BTC.

Redeeem presents itself as a crypto exchange for discount gift cards. The platform operates on a P2P basis and you can buy and sell gift cards from 34 retail brands like Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, Home Depot, and Best Buy, using 32 cryptocurrencies including BTC, BCH, XRP, and ETH. Supporting the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Redeeem recently introduced a 0% trading fee for all grocery store gift cards. The website claims the average discount that gift card buyers get is over 20%. In early March, the exchange launched a Telegram bot, @RedeeemBot, and now traders can sell gift cards in the popular messenger.

Another cryptocurrency exchange supporting peer-to-peer trading, Hong Kong-based Coincola, maintains a gift card trading section, where users can buy and sell BTC with cards and e-codes for numerous retailers and other platforms including Apple Store, Netflix, and Spotify. The page lets you choose the gift card you want to sell for bitcoin and filter the offers by fiat options. That latter feature allows cryptocurrency buyers to meet card sellers in their region and obtain the coins using gift cards denominated in local currency.

Getting a Crypto Offer for Your Gift Card

Some platforms are focusing on specific markets. Pamcoins, for instance, operates in Nigeria which has demonstrated heightened interest towards Bitcoin in the past year. The service helps users trade Amazon, Ebay, Steam, Google Play, and Apple gift cards for either Nigerian naira or BTC and ETH.

To do this, Nigerians have to contact Pamcoins on Whatsapp and specify the gift card they want to sell with its amount to get the current rate from an agent. After they upload the card, Pamcoins promises payment within minutes. Crypto Voucher works in a similar way, providing a global exchange platform for gift cards and cryptocurrencies. First you get an offer depending on the card and its balance. Once you provide the card and your personal details, the platform will email you a cryptocurrency voucher you can redeem for a choice of coins including BCH, BTC, ETH, and DASH.

Gift cards also provide an opportunity to spend your bitcoins with businesses that don’t accept cryptocurrencies directly. If you are looking to purchase cards for major retailers with BCH and BTC, you can check out Bitcoin.com Store’s Gift Cards section. The cards are sorted in multiple categories from Food, Clothing and Health, to Fuel & Auto and Sports & Outdoors. You can also send a gift card to a friend with a few clicks and a fast crypto transaction. The service is powered by Egifter, itself a platform providing cryptocurrency holders with access to hundreds of gift cards.

Bidali is another alternative for gift card buyers offering a rich selection of cards and dozens of supported cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokens. Gyft lets you choose between over 200 retailers and pay for gift cards with crypto. Wegift has more than 500 retailers’ gift cards for sale, while Bitrefill claims you can purchase gift cards or mobile refills for more than 1,650 businesses in 170 countries from its website using major cryptocurrencies.

What other options to trade gift cards with cryptocurrencies would you recommend? Tell us in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Purse, Crypto Voucher.

Do you need a reliable bitcoin mobile wallet to send, receive, and store your coins? Download one for free from us and then head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can quickly buy bitcoin with a credit card.

The post 12 Platforms Allowing You to Trade Gift Cards With Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Tax Rules Hit Brazilian Crypto Exchanges, Forcing Trading Platforms Acesso Bitcoin and Latoex Out of Business

15/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

Tax regulations implemented even before dedicated legislation has been adopted have hit Brazilian cryptocurrency exchanges. Digital asset brokers failing to comply with the new reporting requirements face fines and the stricter rules are hurting smaller platforms, which are shutting down due to dwindling trading volumes.

Also read: Tax Agents ‘Confiscate’ Bitcoin From Criminal but Keep the Coins in His Wallet

Exchanges Struggle With Compliance Costs and Diminishing Returns

One of the affected exchanges, Acesso Bitcoin, points to the current situation created by the new regulations as the main reason for its decision to quit. “After the Federal Revenue Service introduced these rules we noticed a significant decrease in the traded volume,” said cofounder Pedro Nunes, quoted by the crypto news outlet Portal do Bitcoin. “We also feel that the market has cooled off for smaller exchanges,” he added.

Porto Alegre-headquartered Acesso Bitcoin recently advised clients on how to proceed with withdrawing their funds. Anyone who keeps bitcoin core (BTC) with the exchange should transfer the coins to a private wallet or another exchange. Customers who have balances in Brazilian real (BRL) can withdraw the money at any time in accordance with the terms and conditions that were applicable when the platform operated normally.

Latoex, formerly known as the São Paulo-based platform E-juno, is another cryptocurrency exchange that’s shutting down due to difficulties meeting the tax authority’s new requirements. Last week, the closure was confirmed by Diego Velasques, chief executive officer of Latoex Capital, the investment arm of the exchange which separated from the crypto trading platform in December.

Latoex (Latin America Token Exchange) is now looking to sell its assets to other companies and return remaining funds to its clients. The asset manager is also trying to reverse a suspension order issued by CVM, Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission, which threatened to impose a 100,000 Brazilian rial ($23,000) fine in case the group does not comply with its decision.

Brazil is yet to adopt legislation tailored to regulate the crypto space. In the absence of a dedicated law, interactions in the industry are now largely governed by Normative Instruction 1888 issued by Secretaria da Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB), the Department of Federal Revenue. The substatutory act was published in May and entered into force on Aug. 1, 2019.

According to the instruction, all transactions carried out through Brazilian crypto exchanges must be reported to the RFB, regardless of the amount traded. Noncompliant brokers and companies that present inaccurate information will be fined. Failure to file a monthly declaration would cost them between 500 and 1,500 rial ($350) per violation. But even without fines, compliance requires additional investments as the whole sector is trying to adapt to the new regulations.

Three Crypto Bills Stuck in the National Congress

Multiple proposals to comprehensively regulate the crypto industry and place it under the oversight of the Central Bank of Brazil have been filed in both houses of the country’s National Congress. The main draft so far, Bill 2303/2015 which was introduced to the Chamber of Deputies almost five years ago, was archived in 2018 and later placed back on the agenda in March 2019. A special commission has been appointed to analyze it and make revisions, if necessary.

Two other bills, PL 3825/2019 and PL 3949/2019, are currently under review in the Senate. Both aim to establish general rules for the cryptocurrency market with particular focus on implementing regulations for digital asset brokers and investor protection measures. No specific time frame has been set for the enactment of either of these pieces of legislation which are still subject to deliberation.

The new challenges for crypto companies in Brazil mirror some regulatory developments European businesses have to deal with. Stricter due diligence requirements were introduced in the EU with the bloc’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) that member-states had to transpose into national law by Jan. 10, 2020. Several crypto startups have already closed down or relocated to other jurisdictions in order to preserve their business models and keep their customer base. The European Commission is still working on a comprehensive proposal to regulate crypto-related activities in the union.

What are your expectations about the future of crypto businesses in Brazil? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Acesso Bitcoin.

Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here.

The post Tax Rules Hit Brazilian Crypto Exchanges, Forcing Trading Platforms Acesso Bitcoin and Latoex Out of Business appeared first on Bitcoin News.