Billions Pulled from Binance and Coinbase, What’s Going On?

• Over 8,000 BTC and 67,000 ETH were withdrawn from Coinbase and Binance, suggesting strong long-term institutional positioning.
• Altcoin Season index surged to 31, with FORM, WIF, and MKR leading interest beyond BTC and ETH.

Imagine if in one day almost $1 billion flowed out of the two largest crypto exchanges in the world. Not because of panic, nor because of hackers. But because someone is secretly accumulating large amounts of assets. That’s what happened recently at Binance and Coinbase.

According to CryptoQuant, Binance recorded a withdrawal of more than 67,000 ETH, worth around $167 million. Meanwhile, Coinbase followed with a withdrawal of 8,000 BTC worth close to $800 million. If that much money is withdrawn, it’s natural for people to ask—who did it and for what?

Source: CryptoQuant

Institutions Move as Coinbase Joins the S&P 500

The big withdrawal from Coinbase apparently came at quite an interesting time. Their CEO, Brian Armstrong, recently announced that the company had officially entered the S&P 500 index. Coinbase’s entry into the famous stock index is like getting a “Wall Street-recognized” stamp. And when this announcement came out, thousands of BTC left Coinbase’s wallet.

Is this a coincidence? I don’t think so. Many believe that large institutions are preparing to take long positions in Bitcoin. This withdrawal could be part of a strategy by custodians or large asset managers who do not want to store their assets on open exchanges. They prefer to store them in places that are considered safer, such as cold wallets or special custodians.

On the other hand, Ethereum is also no less interesting. According to the CNF report, ETH is trading above its realized price. This means that most long-term holders—including Binance users—are already in a profitable position. Plus, Binance remains the main center of ETH liquidity, even when market conditions are uncertain or when many investors are reorganizing their portfolios.

Altcoin Season Indicator Rises, Interest Starts to Shift

On the other hand, the market movement does not stop at BTC and ETH alone. On May 13, 2025, the Altcoin Season index jumped 138% to level 31. This means that 31 of the top 100 cryptos have outperformed Bitcoin in the last 90 days. Although the figure is not yet categorized as an official altcoin season (must be above 75), it already shows that there is a shift in interest.

Tokens such as FORM, FARTCOIN, MKR, WIF, and BREET are the driving force. In fact, many investors are looking back at assets outside of BTC and ETH, hoping to taste higher growth in a shorter time. Not only that, FalconX—one of the leading crypto trading platforms—recently announced a partnership with Standard Chartered.

Through this partnership, FalconX will utilize the global bank’s services to simplify the fiat currency transaction process and reduce risk for institutional clients such as hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds. It will initially operate in Singapore, then expand to the Middle East and the United States.