Crypto Exchange Gemini Suffers $485M Rush of Outflows Amid Contagion Fears

Gemini suspended its yield-earning program, shaking users’ confidence in the exchange.

AccessTimeIconNov 16, 2022 at 11:42 p.m. UTC
Updated Nov 17, 2022 at 6:44 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Gemini, a crypto exchange and custodian founded by the Winklevoss brothers, has suffered a rush of withdrawals as crypto firms wrestle with the reverberations of the FTX-Alameda bankruptcy and subsequent contagion within the digital asset industry.

Data by blockchain intelligence platform Nansen shows that Gemini saw $485 million in net outflows in the past 24 hours, the largest among crypto exchanges. Outflows totaled $563 million, and were offset by only $78 million in inflows. In the past seven days, Gemini experienced a total of $682 million net outflows – the difference of $866 billion of inflows and $1.55 billion of inflows provided by Nansen – suggesting that most of the withdrawals have occurred on Wednesday.

Gemini endured the largest net outflows among crypto exchanges in the last 24 hours. (Nansen)
Gemini endured the largest net outflows among crypto exchanges in the last 24 hours. (Nansen)

Digital asset balances on crypto wallets identified as Gemini dropped to $1.7 billion from about $2.2 billion a day ago, according to blockchain data platform Arkham Intelligence. Arkham and Nansen do not cover data from the Bitcoin blockchain and may not include all Gemini’s wallets.

Crypto balance held in Gemini's known wallets dropped to $1.7 billion from $2.2 billion in a day. (Arkham Intelligence)
Crypto balance held in Gemini's known wallets dropped to $1.7 billion from $2.2 billion in a day. (Arkham Intelligence)

The rush of withdrawals came as Gemini paused withdrawals earlier Wednesday from its yield-generating Earn program. The lending unit of crypto investment bank Genesis Global Trading, which powered the program for Gemini, announced that it was suspending customer redemptions citing “extreme market dislocation” and “loss of industry confidence caused by the FTX implosion."

The exchange also suffered an outage today, which was shortly resolved but exacerbated the fear about its stability.

A Gemini spokesperson told CoinDesk that the firm did not see the withdrawal surge "as a material outflow" and the exchange has "seen net inflows and outflows of this size on many occasions depending on market conditions." Earlier today, the firm said in a tweet that all assets deposited by customers are available to withdraw at any time.

Contagion fear looms

Pressure has mounted on crypto exchanges and lending firms dealing with the implosion of top exchange FTX and its corporate sibling, trading firm Alameda Research.

Cautious investors have scrambled to move digital assets from centralized exchanges amid “growing concerns about the solvency of other centralized exchanges,” crypto research firm Delphi Digital wrote in a report this week.

Binance, Coinbase, KuCoin all experienced large deposit drawdowns recently, according to Nansen data. Some smaller platforms, such as AAX, Liquid and lender Salt, have halted withdrawals in the past few days.

"Users are now a lot more cautious of centralized exchanges after what happened to FTX," Martin Lee, data journalist at Nansen, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message. "Users who had funds on Gemini are withdrawing their funds as a safety measure."

Multiple exchanges attempted to mitigate widespread fear by sharing or promising to publish their crypto holdings. High-profile industry figures are advocating for presenting proof of reserves and performing independent audits of crypto holdings on a regular basis.

UPDATE (Nov. 17, 18:44 UTC): Added comments from Gemini spokesperson and Nansen analyst.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Krisztian  Sandor

Krisztian Sandor is a reporter on the U.S. markets team focusing on stablecoins and institutional investment. He holds BTC and ETH.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.