Ethereum CEX balance plummets: Over 31 million outflows in February, Binance balance hits lowest level since 2020

According to CryptoQuant data, over 31,000,000 ETH has flowed out of centralized exchanges, marking the largest monthly outflow since last year. Among them, Binance saw an outflow of about 14,450,000 ETH, accounting for nearly half of the total outflow; OKX had an outflow of about 3,830,000 ETH; and Kraken saw an outflow of about 1,040,000 ETH.

The continuous outflow has reduced the liquidity available for spot trading. After tokens are transferred to private wallets or staking platforms, short-term liquidity decreases. When market activity picks up, the shrinking exchange balances may exacerbate price volatility.

Crypto analyst Arab Chain stated that although the ETH price is still hovering around $2,000, derivatives data shows a divergence between small buyers and large sellers. The market is focused on how the price will react once retail investors and whales align in their buying and selling directions.

CryptoQuant data also shows that Ethereum reserves on the Binance platform have dropped to about 3,460,000 ETH, the lowest level since 2020. In the previous cycle, reserves peaked above 5,000,000 ETH before entering a gradual decline.

Hyblock data indicates a divergence between different trading scales. The cumulative trading volume Delta for small orders ($0--10,000) is close to $95,000,000, showing sustained buying by retail investors; while the CVD for the $10,000--100,000 range is about -$162,000,000, and for orders above $100,000, it is close to -$357,000,000, indicating that larger participants tend to net sell during the same period.

The buy-sell ratio recently turned slightly positive, rising to 0.2 before falling back to 0.03, indicating a slight increase in buying pressure but an overall lack of broad consensus.

Open interest has decreased from nearly $10,000,000,000 at the end of February to about $9,410,000,000, with leverage being reduced. Analysts believe that if retail investors continue to accumulate while large sellers slow down, the forces of bulls and bears may tend to align.

At that time, against the backdrop of a contraction in supply on trading platforms, if ETH stabilizes above $2,000--$2,150, it may amplify upward price momentum.