The amount of Bitcoin held on centralized exchanges has plunged to a six-year low as the asset climbed to a new all-time high.
The total Bitcoin balance on centralized exchanges fell to a six-year low of 2.83 million BTC on Saturday, according to Glassnode.
The last time that there were fewer coins stored on exchanges was early June 2019, when the asset was trading around $8,000 in the depths of a bear market.
Blockchain analytics platform CryptoQuant has a slightly lower total exchange reserve figure of 2.45 million BTC, which puts it at a seven-year low.
Both platforms show that the BTC exchange balance has dropped sharply over the past couple of weeks. More than 114,000 BTC worth over $14 billion has left exchanges over the past fortnight, according to Glassnode.
When Bitcoin moves off centralized exchanges into self-custody, institutional funds, or digital asset treasuries, it suggests holders are planning to keep their coins long-term rather than sell them. Bitcoin sitting on exchanges is considered “available supply” that could be liquidated and hit the market at any moment.
Exchanges running dry
“Hearing exchanges are out of Bitcoin,” said VanEck’s head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, on Saturday.
“Monday 9:30 am might be the first official shortage,” he said before adding, “Not financial advice… just: it might make sense to get some.”
Investor and trader Mike Alfred said on Sunday morning that “I just got off a 20-minute call with THE guy who runs the most important OTC desk.
“He says at the current pace, they will be completely out of Bitcoin to sell within two hours of futures opening tomorrow, unless the price goes to $126,000 to $129,000. Things getting wild.”
BTC climbs to new all-time high
That price zone is not far away right now, as Bitcoin climbed to a new all-time high on Sunday morning, returning to a little over $125,700, according to Tradingview.
Its previous peak was $124,500 on Coinbase on Aug. 14. It pulled back by 13.5% by Sept.1 but has recovered strongly over the past week as ‘Uptober’ began.
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