Binance SAFU Fund adds 4,225 BTC as reserve-asset conversion progresses

Binance has just added 4,225 BTC valued at over $300 million to its SAFU Fund, bringing its total holdings to 10,455 BTC. The company is racing to complete the fund’s reserve conversion from stablecoins to Bitcoin within 30 days, raising new questions about its future stability.

On-chain data shows the transaction was first broadcast on the Bitcoin network on February 9 at 09:09 AM GMT +3, recording 15 Binance 4 output confirmations totaling approximately $299.6 million as of publication.

Binance’s Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) acquired the BTC at an average price of $70,403.17 per BTC, bringing the fund’s BTC holdings to over $734 million. 

Meanwhile, the exchange describes Bitcoin as the premier long-term store of value and foundational asset of the world’s crypto ecosystem, framing the move as a sign of confidence and its long-term bet on BTC through turbulent market cycles.

Binance is taking action amid the teetering Bitcoin price, which continues to scare investors and traders.

Binance’s SAFU acquires over 3.6K BTC at $237M amid BTC plunge

Arkham’s data shows that the exchange’s SAFU Fund purchased another 3,663 BTC, worth $237.14 million, just three days ago. The fund also acquired 1,315 BTC at $100.42 million five days ago and another 1,315 BTC at $100.7 million about a week ago. The purchases were executed at around $77,000, although BTC has since dropped to approximately $69,921 at the time of publication, according to Coingecko. 

Meanwhile, Binance says its latest BTC acquisitions are not a trading flex but an emergency fund decision. The exchange has justified its decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on Bitcoin despite the dropping prices, saying that BTC will help keep the SAFU Fund safe and stable.

According to Binance, its SAFU Fund will be topped up to $1 billion whenever its BTC reserve falls below $800 million, regardless of market volatility. 

Meanwhile, digital gold risks plunging further into a full-blown bear market after BTC/USD slipped for the fourth consecutive month. Coingecko also shows that BTC has lost 22.8% over the past 30 days, 20.4% over the past 14 days, 9% over the past 7 days, 0.8% over the past 24 hours, and 0.7% over the past hour.

OKX CEO criticizes Binance’s market manipulation 

The founder and CEO of OKX, Star Xu, has spent weeks revisiting the October 10 meltdown, arguing that some large exchanges like Binance rely on aggressive narrative control and coordinated campaigns to directly or indirectly influence markets in specific directions.

According to Xu, industry leaders like Binance should focus on strengthening core infrastructure instead of manipulating the prices of tokens closely tied to them.

Xu’s remarks came after Cathie Woods resurfaced the October 10 crash, describing the event as being linked to a Binance software glitch. Woods believes the exchange’s software glitch triggered a wave of forced deleveraging, wiping out approximately $28 billion across the global crypto market.

Meanwhile, Xu directs his criticism at Binance, accusing it of prioritizing short-term profits over the health of the crypto market. 

The OKX CEO also criticized Binance’s competitors for pushing what he calls “Ponzi-like schemes” that amplify get-rich-quick narratives and prop up low-performing tokens, like what is happening with Bitcoin right now. He believes Binance is looking to prop up the Bitcoin ecosystem through marketing rather than fundamentals. 

Xu further believes that this approach does not build the industry but instead erodes trust, and everyone ultimately pays the price. He notes that Binance could be using these seemingly unfavorable BTC purchases as a shortcut for attracting traffic and user attention through narrative control and coordinated influencer campaigns. 

Meanwhile, Binance recently announced operational risk management measures to protect users, according to Cryptopolitan. The exchange aims to have 11,900 BTC under its SAFU Fund by early March, estimating that it will need to convert nearly $33 million per day to reach its target.