Binance and ByBit have reportedly begun withdrawal freezes

Top cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bybit have reportedly begun halting withdrawals amid the accelerating crypto selloff. This news follows a brief outage on Binance earlier this week that the exchange attributed to technical difficulties, offering traders a quick reset after a jittery stretch for crypto markets.

Reports indicate that Binance restored withdrawals after fixing the issue, with the disruption lasting about 20 minutes. At that time, online chatter suggested users were rushing to pull funds amid falling crypto prices.

On this occasion, the exchange first flagged the problem in a post on X, telling users, “We are aware of some technical difficulties affecting withdrawals on the platform. Our team is already working on a fix, and services will resume as soon as possible.”

Social media withdrawal push tests Binance as Bitcoin plunges

Binance and ByBit have come under the spotlight this week as market jitters and social media campaigns prompted temporary withdrawal pauses and renewed investor concerns.

This follows a bruising spell for crypto, with Bitcoin crashing by over 13% on Thursday, sinking below $64,000 to its lowest levels since October 2024, as a steep sell-off accelerated.

The token is down nearly 50% from last year’s all-time high, erasing all of the gains made during President Trump’s second term. Investors had been optimistic that the administration’s crypto-friendly policies would lift digital asset prices.

While digital assets are far short of the $19B washout after President Donald Trump’s China tariff move, the episode again showed how quickly leverage can unwind when sentiment shifts.

Binance didn’t explain exactly why the interruption happened, so users just focused on what it meant for them. Withdrawals resumed once the platform was stable.

A few hours ago, many posts on X urged traders to withdraw their funds from Binance, which briefly shook markets and revived old concerns about exchange safety. But on-chain data showed something different: Binance’s account balances actually went up, meaning more people were depositing than withdrawing.

Binance co-founder He Yi described the withdrawal messages as a coordinated push from parts of the community. She emphasized that such waves of withdrawals are useful stress tests, revealing how systems perform under pressure. Yi also warned that rushing blockchain transfers can lead to costly mistakes, and recommended self-custody options such as Binance Wallet, Trust Wallet, or hardware wallets for added reassurance.

“Although the number of assets in Binance addresses increased after the campaign began, I believe that regularly initiating withdrawals from all trading platforms is a very effective stress test,” Yi said in a post on X.

Zhao dismisses rumors as Binance reaffirms liquidity strength

Binance’s chaos has reignited debates as never before, and some users are likening exchanges to the 2022 FTX collapse. Co-founder Changpeng Zhao responded to accusations that Binance was dumping $1 billion in Bitcoin to spike a sell-off, dismissing them as “imaginative FUD.” 

The funds at issue, he said, belonged to users, not Binance. But Binance relies on transparency to maintain trust. As of January 2026, based on CoinMarketCap’s exchange reserves ranking, Binance alone holds approximately $155.64 billion in total reserves, further consolidating its identity as the industry’s largest liquidity pool. 

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