Exchange Reserves by Exchange

What is it?

This chart breaks down exchange reserves by individual platform, ranking the covered venues by total on-chain assets. Instead of looking at the covered set as a whole, you can compare how Binance, Bitfinex, OKX, HTX, Bybit and the other covered venues stack up against each other - and how their reserves evolve over time. The covered venues are those whose balances Trinity can read on-chain from addresses they publish themselves (on Bitcoin and Tron), plus Bitfinex through its official wallet list and HTX through its proof-of-reserves data. Assets on Ethereum are not counted, so each figure is a floor, and venues that publish no address list are not covered: they are named in the coverage notice above the KPI cards and enter neither the ranking nor the totals. This is a concentration and competition metric. In a healthy market, reserves should be reasonably distributed across multiple platforms. Extreme concentration (e.g., one exchange holding >50% of all reserves) creates systemic risk - if that exchange fails, the impact on the industry is catastrophic. Here, concentration is measured within the covered venues only.

How to read

This chart has two visual panels. **Panel A (primary) - Horizontal bar ranking**: each covered venue (Binance, Bitfinex, OKX, HTX, Bybit, Deribit, MEXC, KuCoin, Phemex) with reserves above $10 million that day gets a horizontal bar with length proportional to its current total reserves. KPI cards show aggregate totals and the count of exchanges tracked. This ranking view is the primary value - it instantly shows who dominates within the covered set and by how much. **Panel B (secondary, below) - time-series at reduced height (280px)**: shows the reserves of the three largest covered venues over time. The lines follow ranks, not names: if the ranking changes, the venue behind a line changes with it - the ranking panel tells you which venue holds which rank. Watch for: (1) Convergence - when smaller exchanges grow faster than larger ones, it's a sign of healthy competition. (2) Sudden drops in a single exchange - could indicate problems (withdrawal issues, regulatory action, hacks), or simply assets moved to a chain that is not scanned. (3) Market share shifts - gradual migration from one exchange to another often reflects regulatory or product advantages. **Data scope note**: the current method starts on September 23, 2026, and the visible timeframe on this chart starts from that date. Earlier data was produced by a retired method and is not shown, because the two series are not comparable. Historical pre-2026 redistribution events (FTX collapse Nov 2022, post-FTX market-share shifts, MiCA-driven regulatory divergence) are documented in the Global Liquidity events table and display as markers on macro charts with deeper history. Vertical markers on this chart will show exchange-related events within the visible window. Toggle via the 'Events' toolbar button.

Key zones

**Pre-FTX (before Nov 2022)**: FTX was among the top 5 exchanges by reserves. Its sudden disappearance triggered reserve drops across all platforms as users panicked. **Post-FTX redistribution**: Reserves that previously sat on FTX redistributed toward the largest surviving platforms, raising concentration in the immediate post-FTX phase before it tapered as competitors rebuilt. **Regulatory Divergence Era**: As different jurisdictions implemented different rules, some exchanges saw growth in specific regions while losing others. This has created visible divergences in reserve trajectories across the post-MiCA / post-Hong-Kong-licensing wave. These episodes predate the visible window of this chart; they frame how to read the ranking.

What to observe

Watch for relative shifts in market share, sudden single-exchange drops (potential problems), and the overall trend toward decentralization or concentration within the covered set. A healthy ecosystem shows gradual diversification across platforms. A venue appearing in or disappearing from the ranking may simply have crossed the $10 million threshold.

Historical context

Exchange competition has evolved dramatically since 2017. Mt. Gox's collapse in 2014 was the first major exchange failure, but the industry was too small for PoR to matter. The rise of a few dominant platforms from 2017 onward created unprecedented concentration. The FTX collapse in 2022 forced a reckoning - the industry realized that concentration without transparency was an existential threat.

Expert notes

The ranking reflects what is counted, not only what each venue holds. Only Bitcoin and USDT on Tron are read on-chain; a venue that keeps most of its reserves on Ethereum or other chains will rank lower here than its real size. HTX is measured through its proof-of-reserves data, which covers more assets than the on-chain scans, so its figure is not built the same way as the others. Compare these trends with regulatory developments in each exchange's primary jurisdiction.

Common mistakes to avoid

**Mistake 1 - "Bigger reserves = better exchange"**: Size doesn't equal quality. Smaller exchanges may offer better security, lower fees, or better regulatory compliance. Reserves measure scale, not trustworthiness. **Mistake 2 - "Reserve drops always mean problems"**: Exchanges regularly move assets between hot and cold wallets for security. Some drops are routine operational transfers, not user withdrawals. **Mistake 3 - "This is the industry ranking"**: It ranks the covered venues only, on the chains that are scanned. Large venues outside the covered set do not appear.

Programmatic access

REST API

curl -sS \
  'https://api.trinityinsights.io/api/v1/macro-intelligence/metrics/exchange-reserves-top/data?timeframe=90d' \
  -H 'X-API-Key: $TRINITY_API_KEY'

MCP server

{
  "tool": "get_chart_value",
  "metric_id": "exchange-reserves-top",
  "timeframe": "1y"
}

Required tier: pro. See the pricing grid for the tier list and the MCP documentation for multi-client configuration.

Related metrics

• exchange-total-reserves
• exchange-stablecoin-reserves

Institutional disclaimer

Trinity Insights is an educational and analytical tool. The metric above does not constitute investment advice. Trinity Insights is not a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) registered under MiCA Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. See the full disclaimer.