Binance published its 40th Asset Reserves Proof on Monday, revealing that user holdings of major cryptocurrencies dipped at the March 1 snapshot compared with the previous month’s figures. The report showed roughly 631,000 BTC held on the platform, a drop of about 8,004 BTC, or 1.25% from the February 1 tally, while Ethereum balances fell more sharply to around 3.87 million ETH, a decline of 307,203 ETH, or 7.35%. Tether (USDT) positions on Binance also eased slightly, with roughly $36.4 billion in USDT on the exchange, down about $360 million or 0.98% from the prior report.
Binance’s Proof of Reserves (PoR) program, which uses on-chain data and a Merkle-tree verification mechanism to let users confirm that exchange-held assets back customer balances, is intended to provide a transparent snapshot of custody at a point in time. The company has published monthly PoR updates for many months as part of a wider transparency push; the PoR landing page explains the verification mechanism and offers users the tools to inspect the underlying data for themselves.
The March 1 numbers represent a notable reversal for some assets compared with February’s snapshot. In February, Binance reported higher BTC and ETH totals, a pattern reflected in industry coverage, which makes the March decline in ETH particularly conspicuous. Observers point out that monthly PoR snapshots capture a single moment, and swings can reflect a range of factors: user withdrawals, traders shifting funds between exchanges and self-custody, margin and staking movements, or large on-chain transfers by institutions and market makers.
Exchange Transparency Update
Market participants were quick to parse what the figures might imply. A modest fall in BTC holdings of 1.25% is within the kind of ebb-and-flow exchanges see when large traders rebalance, but the roughly 7.35% slide in ETH holdings suggests stronger rotation out of exchange custody during February. Some analysts interpret falling exchange balances as bullish; less supply on exchanges can reduce available sell pressure, while others caution that PoR snapshots do not show off-balance-sheet liabilities, margin positions, or the reasons funds moved off the platform.
The PoR approach is clear about what it does and what it doesn’t. It shows that the assets exist on-chain to match the balances at a specific moment, but it isn’t a substitute for a full, independent audited balance sheet. Binance publishing these PoR snapshots month after month comes at a time when people expect more transparency from exchanges.
After several high-profile platform failures in recent years, users and regulators are watching more closely, and proof-of-reserves has become one of the tools exchanges use to rebuild trust, even though many argue it should be paired with broader audits and disclosures to give the full picture. The method itself is not without debate: critics say snapshots can be gamed over short windows and that verifications must be paired with other disclosures and robust, independent auditing to form a fuller picture of financial health.
For everyday users, the practical takeaway from Binance’s 40th PoR is twofold. First, the exchange continues to publish verifiable on-chain evidence that it holds the assets it says it does at monthly checkpoints. Second, month-to-month movements, especially pronounced ones such as the decline in ETH holdings, are worth watching as one data point among many when assessing market dynamics or an exchange’s liquidity posture.
Binance makes the full Proof of Reserves material available on its PoR page so interested users and researchers can download wallet lists, check the Merkle root, and run their own verifications. As always with PoR data, the numbers tell a story about a single moment; understanding the why behind those numbers requires looking at trading flows, withdrawals, staking and lending activity, and broader market behavior.
