Bitcoin Exchange Supply Drops to 5.38%, Lowest Since December 2017

Bitcoin‘s supply on exchanges has continued to move into self-custody as “exchange reputation continues to diminish,” according to Santiment, the market intelligence platform with on-chain and social metrics. At the same time, the on-chain market analytics platform also reported that the ten largest Tether exchange wallets hold $15.23 billion, pushing the exchange buying power to its highest level in 17 months.

In a recent post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Santiment shared a screenshot of a chart showing the growth pattern of both metrics over a long period. The shared data shows that Bitcoin’s overall supply on exchanges is down to 5.38%, its lowest value since December 2017. Meanwhile, the recorded Tether holding of $15.23 billion held by the top 10 largest USDT exchange wallets is the highest since June 2022.

Notably, the shared chart showed that the value of both metrics crossed each other between May and June 2023, after Bitcoin climbed above $30,000 for the first time since dropping below that level in June 2022. Both metrics have maintained relatively steady movements in their respective directions since the intersection, with minor retracements at intervals.

It is crucial to note that Bitcoin traders use exchange supply metrics to study the prevailing sentiment in the Bitcoin marketplace. Usually, when the volume of the flagship crypto moving into self-custody increases, it suggests that more users are planning to hold their Bitcoins for extended periods. They may be removing them from exchanges to keep them in more secure storage environments.

On the other hand, the increase in Tether supply on the ten largest wallets on centralized exchanges suggests that whales may be preparing to buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Hence, they may be sending their stablecoins to trading platforms in preparation to exchange them for Bitcoin or any altcoin of preference.