Binance Sends Millions in Crypto to Wintermute Amid Transparency Questions

• Binance sent 110K SOL and 8K ETH to Wintermute, which were not linked to customer withdrawals.
• Binance’s July PoR shows full backing for SOL and ETH, raising questions on asset origin.
• The source of the Binance transferred assets raises questions despite reported 100% reserve ratios.

Between August 1 and 2, Binance transferred over 110,000 SOL and 8,000 ETH to Wintermute, a prominent market-making firm. These on-chain transactions occurred within 18 and 4 hours, respectively. The timing and volume of the transfers have raised concerns, mainly because the assets do not appear to be customer withdrawals. Blockchain records show a direct flow from Binance to Wintermute, with no indication that these funds came from user-initiated actions.

Wintermute, which often serves as a liquidity provider on centralized exchanges, has not yet addressed these transfers. Additionally, Binance has not confirmed whether these transactions were part of internal liquidity management or off-exchange settlement. However, the source of these assets is now under public review, in the light of Binance’s recent Proof-of-Reserves (PoR) report.

Proof-of-Reserves Report Lists Full Backing for Customer Funds

According to Binance’s July Proof-of-Reserves data, the exchange claims to maintain full or surplus backing for all major customer-held assets. Ethereum and Solana, the two assets transferred to Wintermute, are both reported as fully backed. For Ethereum, Binance reports a 100% reserve ratio. The exchange holds 5.05 million ETH, matching total customer liabilities, with 251,967 ETH kept in third-party custody.

Beyond ETH and SOL, Binance’s reserve ratios exceed 100% for several other assets. Bitcoin holdings stand at 588,385 BTC, while user balances total 573,997 BTC, giving a reserve ratio of 102.51%. Tether (USDT) maintains a ratio of 101.11% with 29.92 billion USDT held against 29.59 billion in liabilities.

BNB, Binance’s native token, shows one of the strongest positions with a 111.79% ratio. The exchange holds 44.31 million BNB for 39.64 million in user accounts. XRP and USDC also display reserve surpluses. Binance reserves include 2.69 trillion XRP compared to 2.61 trillion customer balances, and 8.58 billion USDC compared to 5.62 billion liabilities, a 152.65% reserve ratio.

Though the PoR report confirms absolute coverage of customer balances, the direct transfers of ETH and SOL to Wintermute have raised demands to make the situation clearer. Its transactions are publicly verifiable and contain movement of asset which is not consistent with the user withdrawals. Binance has not adressed where the money was obtained, but, based on the PoR data, they seem to be fully linked to customer assets.