San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reportedly holds about 994,904 bitcoin in its cold wallets, which at current prices means the exchange has over $11 billion in cold storage.
According to data from bitcoin analytics platform ChainInfo, first reported on by Decrypt, the cryptocurrency exchange has the funds stored across over 4 million BTC addresses. The exchange with the second-largest BTC holdings, according to the platform, is Huobi, with 323,665 BTC stored across 901,591 addresses.
Binance comes in third place, with 289,961 BTC stores in over 2.6 million BTC addresses. Notably, other top exchanges appear to store more funds in their hot and deposit wallets than Coinbase itself.
The amount of BTC stored on Coinbase could, to some, represent a security risk for the cryptocurrency space, as if a hacker got a hold of so many funds the market would likely plunge. The exchange, however, has never been hacked.
Coinbase likely holds considerably larger amounts of BTC than its competitors because it’s to many the go-to on-ramp to the cryptocurrency space. The cryptocurrency exchange has various features that make it easier for users to move fiat in and out of its platform, including PayPal withdrawals.
It also has a custodian arm, Coinbase Custody, which while independently owned may have been included in ChainInfo’s calculations as to how much BTC Coinbase has in its cold wallets. According to a CNBC report, Coinbase opened new custody operations in Dublin earlier this year to help non-U.S. institutional investors store their assets.
At the time, the firm had over $7 billion worth of assets under custody, with just under $1 billion being holdings from European and international clients. It’s important to point out this figure doesn’t just refer to BTC under management, but also other cryptoassets supported by Coinbase Custody.
