Binance adds 4,545 BTC to SAFU fund in $305M purchase

Binance has finally completed its emergency reserve strategy with the acquisition of another 4,545 Bitcoin, worth $305 million, for its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU). The latest acquisition thus concludes Binance’s $1 billion transaction from stablecoins to Bitcoin. The crypto exchange confirmed that the fund now has approximately 15,000 BTC.

“With SAFU Fund now fully in Bitcoin, we reinforce our belief in BTC as the premier long-term reserve asset. Thank you for your continued trust and support. We remain committed to transparency and security,” the exchange wrote on X.

According to the crypto exchange’s SAFU explainer, the fund was established to protect customers against unexpected incidents such as hacks, security breaches, or system failures. The reserve has historically been held in stablecoins to preserve its value during market stress, but Binance has swapped the assets to Bitcoin in two instances within the last 3 years.

Binance final tranche of Bitcoin purchases completes $1 billion fund

The latest acquisition is the final stage of Binance’s plan to convert the entire SAFU reserve into Bitcoin. Per data compiled by the blockchain tracking service Arkham Intelligence, the crypto trading platform accumulated its holdings through five rounds of large transactions executed since January 30.

As reported by Cryptopolitan earlier this week, Binance added 4,225 BTC at $71,006 per coin, valued at more than $300 million to the fund. Three days earlier, the reserve had acquired 3,663 BTC worth about $237 million.

The buying campaign also included two separate purchases of 1,315 BTC each, worth roughly $100 million per transaction, completed about five and seven days before the final tranche at about $76,045 per coin. The acquisition of 3,600 BTC cost nearly $69,444.

The final buyout of 4,545 BTC was acquired at approximately $66,006, the lowest entry price among the transactions. The average blended purchase price for the entire accumulation sits near $70,000 a pop.

Most of the acquisitions were executed when bitcoin was consolidating between $77,000 and $$70,000. However, the top crypto by market capitalization has declined to around $67,000 at the time of this publication, per CoinGecko.

Binance first announced the conversion plan in an open letter published in late January. The exchange said the Bitcoin buying program was meant to strengthen user protection during market cycles and periods of uncertainty, because it believes the coin has greater long-term resilience than stablecoin reserves.

“If the fund’s market value falls below $800 million due to BTC price fluctuations, Binance will rebalance the fund to restore its value to $1 billion,” the exchange wrote, promising to regularly audit and rebalance the fund’s value.

Bitcoin price stuck on $67,000, investors hope demand will grow 

Bitcoin has struggled to sustain an upward momentum after its impressive run from $60,000 to $71,000 seven days ago. Looking at TradingView’s technical indicators, the king coin has attempted to break below the lower boundary of the $67,000 descending trend channel. 

This development could mean bears are exerting persistent downward pressure, though the causality may lead to a short-term rebound to levels above $70,000, as seen last Friday. However, there is currently no clear support level on the price chart, and a 24-hour trading volume uptick of 10% suggests sellers are aware of the flailing prices.

The US non-farm payrolls report released earlier in the week showed 130,000 jobs added, exceeding expectations of 70,000. Despite stronger labor data, the market is still waiting for inflation data before deciding whether to keep or sell its holdings, which has inadvertently stalled BTC prices.

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