Analysts note that an increasing portion of Bitcoin is now being held within exchange-traded funds and corporate treasuries rather than on centralized trading platforms.
Data from crypto market analyst Dark Fost shows that Bitcoin reserves on exchanges have steadily declined since 2022, returning to levels last observed in 2019. This trend has intensified following the collapse of the FTX exchange, which prompted investors to rethink the safety of keeping assets on centralized platforms.
Migration of Bitcoin Supply
In November 2022 alone, over 325,000 BTC were withdrawn from exchange reserves as investors moved their coins to private wallets. The continued outflow has reduced the total Bitcoin reserves accessible on retail-friendly exchanges to approximately 2.7 million BTC.
Among these exchanges, Binance accounts for roughly 20 percent of the remaining supply. When platforms mainly used by institutional investors are considered, Coinbase Advanced emerges as the leader, holding close to 800,000 BTC. Despite this, the figure is still around 200,000 BTC lower than what was recorded in July 2025, highlighting a significant reduction over time.
Dark Fost explained that while the FTX collapse was a major catalyst encouraging investors to shift their assets off exchanges, two additional developments have reinforced this trend. The first is the introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January 2024. At that time, exchange reserves were still above 3.2 million BTC. Since the launch of these ETFs, they have accumulated around 1.3 million BTC, equivalent to roughly 6.7 percent of the total Bitcoin supply, effectively removing this portion from liquid exchange availability.
The second contributing factor is the growth of digital asset treasury companies, or DATs, which hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset. Collectively, these firms now control about 1.1 million BTC, representing nearly 5 percent of the total supply. Both ETF holdings and corporate treasuries are therefore taking an increasingly large share of the Bitcoin supply and represent structured storage outside of traditional exchange liquidity.
Dark Fost emphasized that this shift in supply could have long-term implications for market liquidity and price formation, though these structural effects generally take time to fully manifest.
Geopolitical Tensions Impact Market Activity
Amid these changes in Bitcoin supply, the cryptocurrency faced pressure in early March as investors remained focused on escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Bitcoin recently failed to break above $70,000, with the ongoing US-Iran conflict contributing to overall market uncertainty.
Despite this pullback, crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe noted that Bitcoin’s current trading activity does not signal a worst-case scenario. In his latest post on X, he highlighted that BTC continues to move within a defined range but maintains relatively strong performance given the market conditions. He also pointed out that oil prices surged by approximately 15 percent on Monday to reach their highest levels since 2022, while gold and other commodities declined, and the Nasdaq experienced notable losses.
Van de Poppe added that if the US stock market opens higher and oil prices begin to correct, Bitcoin could regain momentum and push back toward the $70,000 level, suggesting that the current weakness is temporary and largely driven by external market factors rather than a breakdown in Bitcoin’s underlying demand.#crypto #crypronews https://t.me/coinsignalpublic https://coinsignals.net
