A Record Number of Bitcoin Were Recently Withdrawn From Exchanges

July 8 set a year-to-date record for the number of net Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawn from custodial exchanges. The onslaught was led by Coinbase.

A bullish sign?

Yesterday, 20,660 more Bitcoin were removed from exchanges than deposited according to data from Glassnode. This represents 2020’s biggest daily outflow of Bitcoin from exchanges — a behavior pattern that is typically considered bullish.

All Exchanges versus Coinbase net Bitcoin flow. Source: Glassnode

Coinbase leads the exodus

Interestingly, Coinbase alone experienced a net outflow of 20,787 BTC — higher than the total for all exchanges. Discounting Coinbase, other tracked exchanges had a small uptick.

Coinbase: Number of Bitcoin deposits & withdrawals. Source: Glassnode

Although Coinbase experienced negative Bitcoin outflows, it recorded almost a thousand more deposits than withdrawals. Since overall, it experienced negative outflows, this means that the average withdrawal amount was higher than the average deposit amount. It is possible that the average withdrawal amount was skewed by one or more large withdrawals made by its custodial clients.

Regardless of the cause behind this latest Bitcoin outflow, the trend towards users removing their assets from custodial exchanges continues.