Bitcoin Reserves on Exchanges Fall to Six-Year Low

Bitcoin held on exchanges has dropped to under 11% of the total supply, the lowest level since early 2018. At its peak in March 2020, that figure was over 17%, but more than 1.26 million BTC have since been pulled from wallets and moved into cold storage or institutional custody.

CryptoQuant’s latest data puts the Exchange Flows to Network Activity Ratio at 1.2, indicating reduced deposit activity even as broader blockchain usage remains strong. The disconnect points to reduced short-term positioning across the market.

That same drop-off in trading behavior is starting to show up in how people spend their crypto, not just in custody trends, but in the movement of value across alternative ecosystems. With fewer coins reaching the marketplace, many users are shifting to platforms that let them put their assets to use directly, without delays, extra steps, or identity checks.

One space seeing that move is crypto casinos, where tokens are used to skip signups, withdraw instantly, and unlock large, token-driven game libraries. These setups are expanding quickly, particularly in regions with looser oversight, where users value speed and autonomy over compliance-heavy systems. Players interested in how these models work can continue reading on ValueWalk to take part in a secure and efficient system better improved than traditional options.

While casual holders chase convenience and rewards, serious sums are still flowing through regulated pipelines built for scale and control. At the institutional level, firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton are placing assets with custodians built for large-scale, regulated exposure. That shift is reflected in Coinbase Prime’s latest figures, with $212 billion in custody reported for the quarter, much of it tied to ETF activity and corporate accounts.

Meanwhile, retail-facing exchanges are seeing the outflows play out in real time. Coinbase alone recorded over $500 million in BTC withdrawals in Q1, followed by another $761 million leaving the platform in early June.

That movement is not random—it is part of a broader realignment of Bitcoin away from tradable markets and toward long-term vaults.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs are absorbing much of this redirected flow. Assets under management across those ETFs have surged from just $1 billion at launch to over $44 billion as of June 5. Institutions appear far from done.

According to a 2025 survey from Coinbase and EY-Parthenon, 83% of corporate investors plan to raise their crypto exposure, and nearly 60% are already allocating more than 5% of their portfolios to digital assets.

That trend is also visible in public balance sheets and long-term holdings. Public companies now hold over 3% of all Bitcoin in existence, according to data from Standard Chartered. And much of this shift traces back to a clear breaking point: the FTX collapse. Following the event, more than 200,000 BTC were pulled from centralized platforms over just eight months, with some weeks seeing withdrawals cross 10,000 coins.

That initial urgency may have eased, but the outcome has proven durable—balances on exchanges remain compressed, and momentum toward long-term storage has held firm. As Bitcoin’s market cap climbed past $1.3 trillion last year, much of its supply was already locked in quieter hands.

The transition has not only reshaped liquidity—it has redefined the rhythm of the industry itself.