Exchange reserves Bitcoin
Total amount BTC on the balance sheets of all major crypto exchanges. The decline in reserves means that owners are withdrawing coins to cold wallets and custodians. Spot ETF — the supply for sale decreases.
Data as of April 29, 2026 · updated daily
Reserves on exchanges
| Exchange | Reserves BTC | Amendment 30d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coinbase | 854,200 BTC | -3,400 BTC | 35.6% |
| Binance | 532,800 BTC | -8,600 BTC | 22.2% |
| Bitfinex | 195,400 BTC | -1,200 BTC | 8.1% |
| OKX | 162,300 BTC | +2,800 BTC | 6.8% |
| Kraken | 138,700 BTC | -2,100 BTC | 5.8% |
| Gemini | 124,500 BTC | -800 BTC | 5.2% |
| Bybit | 112,800 BTC | -4,600 BTC | 4.7% |
| Bitstamp | 86,400 BTC | -300 BTC | 3.6% |
| Bitget | 64,200 BTC | +1,400 BTC | 2.7% |
| HTX | 48,300 BTC | -900 BTC | 2.0% |
| KuCoin | 42,100 BTC | -1,800 BTC | 1.8% |
| Crypto.com | 21,400 BTC | +400 BTC | 0.9% |
| Gate.io | 18,900 BTC | -200 BTC | 0.8% |
| Total | 2,402,000 BTC | -19,300 BTC | 100% |
Aggregation sources: on-chain clustering of custodian addresses (CryptoQuant, Glassnode, Coinglass). Reserves Coinbase include Coinbase Custody, which serves the majority Spot Bitcoin ETFData is updated daily at 00:00 UTC.
Why are exchange reserves important for a trader?
Exchange Reserve — is an on-chain metric showing how much bitcoin is stored in wallets owned by crypto exchanges. When investors are confident of growth, they withdraw coins from exchanges to their own wallets (cold storage). When they want to sell, they transfer them to an exchange. This makes reserves a leading indicator of selling pressure.
In October 2020, exchange reserves began to fall rapidly - from 3.1 million BTC to 2.7 million in three months. This was one of the early signs of a bull run: large holders accumulated coins, removing them from the market. Bitcoin increased from $11,000 to $29,000 by the end of the year.
The opposite process—a buildup of reserves—is often a bearish signal. In May 2021, before the collapse from $57,000 to $30,000, several hundred thousand were deposited into exchanges. BTCThis was evident in the data a few days before the move began. The combination of rising reserves and negative fundamental data (China banned mining) led to a cascading downward movement.
Since launch Spot Bitcoin ETF In January 2024, the picture changed structurally: coins are massively moving to Coinbase Custody, which serves most funds (BlackRock, Fidelity, ARK). Technically, they remain "on the exchange," but are effectively locked in custody and cannot be sold directly. Therefore, when analyzing reserves today, it is important to separate net trading balances from ETF custody.
Influence Spot Bitcoin ETF to exchange reserves
For 2024–2026 Spot ETF accumulated more than 1.45 million BTC — this is about 7% of the total emission BitcoinMost of these coins are kept by Coinbase Custody, therefore the formal reserves of the exchange Coinbase have almost tripled since 2023. ETF custody now accounts for about 60% of all bitcoins listed Coinbase.
Parallel reserves Binance have fallen by 38% since their 2022 peak, with some users switching to competitors following regulatory pressure. SEC And CFTC, some moved the coins into cold storage. HTX And Bitfinex stabilized after recovering from the crash FTX in November 2022.
New market pattern after ETF: total reserves CEX continue to decline smoothly, but the rate has slowed. Most of the "net outflow" is going not into cold storage for private investors, but into institutional ETF structures. For a trader, this means that sudden withdrawals of 30-50 thousand BTC per day, which were previously a bullish signal, may now simply be an ETF rebalancing and do not predict price movement.
How to interpret changes in reserves
Reserves are declining
The owners are withdrawing BTC from exchanges to cold storage or ETFSelling pressure is decreasing. This is interpreted as a bullish signal—long-term holders are not planning to sell.
Reserves are growing
Coins are flowing into exchanges. The increased supply is creating selling pressure. This is a bearish signal, especially if the inflow increases sharply over a short period of time.
A sharp jump in a day
Large tranche BTC Entered the exchange. This is often a major holder preparing an OTC sale or profit-taking. This can be a harbinger of a local correction.
Long-term downtrend
A sustained decline in reserves over months is the strongest bullish signal. This indicates structural accumulation, not tactical movement. This was observed in 2020-2021, late 2023, and 2024-2025 thanks to ETF.
Historical events and reserve response
| Period | Event | Reserves | Price reaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2020 – January 2021 | Corporate accumulation (MicroStrategy, Tesla) | 3.1M → 2.7M | $11K → $42K |
| May 2021 | Mining ban in China | +180K BTC | $57K → $30K |
| November 2022 | Collapse FTX | -450K BTC | $21K → $15K, then rebound |
| January 2024 | Launch Spot Bitcoin ETF | -220K per quarter | $42K → $73K |
| April 2024 | Fourth halving (reward 3.125 BTC) | Continuation of the trend | Sideways until Q4 |
| 2025 | Institutional influx through ETF | 2.55M → 2.42M | $95K → $130K (max) |
Calculation methodology
1. Address clustering. Analytical companies (CryptoQuant, Glassnode, Chainalysis) identify exchange wallets through transaction patterns: address reuse, typical hot/cold wallet transactions, KYC data.
2. Summation of balances. For each exchange, all known addresses (hot, cold, deposit) are summarized. Custody wallets ETF are accounted for separately, but are included in the overall figure of the custodian exchange.
3. Reconciliation with reports. Exchanges like Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken, OKX publish Proof of Reserves, which allow you to check the accuracy of on-chain estimates.
4. Update. A photo is taken once a day at 00:00 UTCIntraday changes are tracked through monitoring of large transfers (whale alerts).