Bitcoin holdings in Binance’s SAFU wallet, which the exchange partially used to cover attack losses, have fallen by roughly half, while no timeline has been announced for its pledge to restore the fund to $1 billion.
According to a report by CoinDesk citing data from Mempool.space, the wallet Binance identified as the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) held a balance of slightly more than 7,500 BTC as of November 3. The balance was recorded after four transactions on October 31.
When the exchange completed its conversion of approximately $1 billion in stablecoins to Bitcoin in February, the wallet held 15,000 BTC. Using the approximate Bitcoin price of $77,000 cited in the report, the remaining balance is valued at around $580 million.
Some funds set aside for the attack came from SAFU
On October 31, Binance said it would use part of the SAFU fund among the $6.34 billion in resources it had set aside to cover losses from the attack. The plan also included the company’s treasury and part of its futures insurance fund.
The exchange said it would restore SAFU to approximately $1 billion, but did not give a date for when this would happen. The amount used from the futures insurance fund was also not disclosed.
An important detail about the $800 million threshold
According to the rule on Binance’s SAFU frequently asked questions page, if the fund’s value falls below $800 million because of fluctuations in the Bitcoin price, the balance is restored to $1 billion.
This rule is limited to price movements; it does not include a timeline for using the fund to cover attack losses. At present, it remains unclear when the exchange will fulfill its separate pledge to replenish the fund.
We previously covered CryptoQuant’s assessment of Binance’s reserves and withdrawals; the latest wallet data now reveals the remaining balance in SAFU, the fund set aside to protect users.
Not investment advice.