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Binance to convert $1B SAFU reserve from stablecoins to BTC

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Binance to convert $1B SAFU reserve from stablecoins to BTC

Binance plans to convert its $1 billion SAFU fund from stablecoins into Bitcoin, citing long-term conviction and market resilience.

Summary

  • Binance will convert the SAFU fund’s roughly $1B stablecoin reserves into Bitcoin.
  • The exchange will rebalance the fund and top it back to $1B if BTC price drops.
  • Binance framed the move as a long-term bet on bitcoin as crypto’s core asset.

Binance has revealed that its Secure Asset Fund for Users will be converted into into Bitcoun, marking a shift in how the exchange backs its emergency protection fund amid ongoing market volatility.

The plan was disclosed in an open letter shared on X on Jan. 29. Binance said the conversion will take place over the next 30 days, after which the SAFU fund will be fully held in Bitcoin (BTC) rather than dollar-pegged assets.

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SAFU fund moves to a Bitcoin-only reserve

The SAFU fund will be rebalanced based on market value. If Bitcoin price movements cause the fund to fall below $800 million, the exchange said it will top it back up to $1 billion.

The exchange described Bitcoin as the foundational asset of the crypto ecosystem and said holding SAFU in BTC reflects a long-term view rather than a short-term response to price swings.

SAFU was launched in 2018 as an emergency insurance fund meant to protect users in cases such as hacks or unexpected platform losses. Until now, the fund had been maintained using a mix of stablecoins and major crypto assets.

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Expansion, regulation, and market positioning

The announcement comes as Binance continues to scale its global operations. The exchange said it reached 300 million users in 2025 and processed $34 trillion in trading volume during the year. Binance also reported proof-of-reserves totaling $162.8 billion across 45 crypto assets.

In recent public comments at Davos, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said Bitcoin could enter a “supercycle” in 2026, potentially moving beyond the traditional four-year halving cycle as adoption expands and policy attitudes evolve. Zhao has also said Binance is in discussions with governments on areas such as asset tokenization.

On the regulatory front, Binance recently applied for an EU MiCA license in Greece, which would allow unified operations across the bloc. Executives have also said the exchange is taking a cautious approach to a possible return to the U.S. market, while exploring the re-introduction of tokenized equities after suspending the product in 2021.

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Pumpfun Unveils Investment Arm and $3 Million Hackathon

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Pumpfun Unveils Investment Arm and $3 Million Hackathon


PUMP rallied as much as 10% but erased its gains as crypto markets dipped.

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Spot Bitcoin ETF AUM Hits Lowest Level Since April 2025

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Spot Bitcoin ETF AUM Hits Lowest Level Since April 2025

Assets in spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs slipped below $100 billion on Tuesday following a fresh $272 million in outflows.

According to data from SoSoValue, the move marked the first time spot Bitcoin ETF assets under management have fallen below that level since April 2025, after peaking at about $168 billion in October

The drop came amid a broader crypto market sell-off, with Bitcoin sliding below $74,000 on Tuesday. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell from $3.11 trillion to $2.64 trillion over the past week, according to CoinGecko.

Altcoin funds secure modest inflows

The latest outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs followed a brief rebound in flows on Monday, when the products attracted $562 million in net inflows.

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Still, Bitcoin funds resumed losses on Tuesday, pushing year-to-date outflows to almost $1.3 billion, coming in line with ongoing market volatility.

Spot Bitcoin ETF flows since Jan. 26, 2026. Source: SoSoValue

By contrast, ETFs tracking altcoins such as Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) recorded modest inflows of $14 million, $19.6 million and $1.2 million, respectively.

Is institutional adoption moving beyond ETFs?

The ongoing sell-off in Bitcoin ETFs comes as BTC trades below the ETF creation cost basis of $84,000, suggesting new ETF shares are being issued at a loss and placing pressure on fund flows.

Market observers say that the slump is unlikely to trigger further mass sell-offs in ETFs.

“My guess is vast majority of assets in spot BTC ETFs stay put regardless,” ETF analyst Nate Geraci wrote on X on Monday.

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Source: Nate Geraci

Thomas Restout, CEO of institutional liquidity provider B2C2, echoed the sentiment, noting that institutional ETF investors are generally resilient. Still, he hinted that a shift toward onchain trading may be underway.

Related: VistaShares launches Treasury ETF with options-based Bitcoin exposure

“The benefit of institutions coming in and buying ETFs is they’re far more resilient. They will sit on their views and positions for longer,” Restout said in a Rulematch Spot On podcast on Monday.

“I think the next level of transformation is institutions actually trading crypto, rather than just using securitized ETFs. We’re expecting the next wave of institutions to be the ones trading the underlying assets directly,” he noted.