Binance plans to convert about $1B in its SAFU insurance fund from stablecoins back to Bitcoin within 30 days.
Binance said it will convert approximately $1 billion held in stablecoins within the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) into Bitcoin (BTC), and the process will be completed within 30 days.
The move shifts the contingency insurance reserve back to BTC and comes as Binance looks to reassess market influence, balance sheet practices, and leadership responsibilities for former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
Binance Unveils SAFU Shift As Part Of Broader Transparency Push
In an open letter sent to X on January 30, Binance said that the SAFU fund will be fully returned to Bitcoin and restored to $ 1 billion if its value falls below $ 800 million due to a drop in price. The exchange added that the fund will undergo regular rebalancing based on market value.
SAFU was launched in 2018 as an insurance pool to cover user losses during extreme events such as hacking. In April 2024, Binance converted the wallet entirely to USDC, a move that was framed at the time as a security measure. That conversion makes SAFU equal to about 3% of USDC’s circulating supply, according to Binance’s disclosures published at the time.
A recent change reverses that trend. Binance said it views BTC as a long-term store of value for the crypto ecosystem and made the decision to integrate SAFU with that belief.
“We believe that Bitcoin is the foundation of this ecosystem and a long-term store of value,” the announcement read.
It also highlighted internal metrics from 2025, including $48 million recovered in bad deposits and $6.69 billion in fraud-related losses prevented through risk management.
The public reaction was swift. Analyst Garrett called the move “putting money directly into the market” and “what responsible builders do.”
You may also like:
Binance’s Position and Common Sense
The announcement came as new data from CryptoQuant showed that Binance held nearly 41% of the trading volume in the area among the top 10 exchanges in 2025, with similarly high shares in Bitcoin futures and stablecoin reserves.
It also follows recent public controversies involving former CEO Changpeng Zhao. On January 28, he defended his buy-and-hold philosophy after criticism on social media, clarifying that the strategy “obviously doesn’t work for every coin.”
Some members of the community, such as White Whale, expressed broader frustration, noting that the time frames were “full of people fed up with CZ and the Binance cart,” conflating sentiment with the start of a bear market.
The founder of Binance, who steps down as CEO in 2023, weighed in, saying,
“FUD doesn’t hurt the cause… FUD hurts the market (ie everyone).”
He added that, based on his knowledge, Binance is a “net hoarder” of assets, and pushed back against claims that the exchange or its leadership is selling too much during the downturn.
In a post on X, he explained that the company converts only part of its income to cover expenses and remains a crypto owner. He also pointed out the presence of a global regulator that oversees the work of the exchange.
SECRET AFFILIATE BONUS for CryptoPotato readers: Use this link to sign up and unlock $1,500 in exclusive BingX Exchange rewards (limited time offer).
