A sharp decline in OKEx's trading volume and stablecoin reserves - especially tether (USDT) - could anticipate an ongoing exodus of its users after the popular crypto derivatives exchange unexpectedly stopped all withdrawal activity. cryptocurrencies for about five weeks.
OKEx Daily Trading Volume Plunges 67,7%
Data from analyst firm CryptoQuant shows that the amount of tether held in OKEx portfolios dropped to 6,69 million from 275,0 million between November 25 and December 1, a drop of 97,6% less than one. week.
Malta-based exchange OKEx has a large user base in China and tether, the largest dollar-backed token in the world, with total assets of $ 19,35 billion, is one of the most popular stablecoins used by Investors Chinese.
At the same time, the total daily trading volume on OKEx decreased significantly during the same time period, down approximately 67,7% since November 25. The volume of tether traded on OKEx plummeted by 70%.
Traders often use stablecoins as an intermediate step to buy riskier crypto assets. The Chinese government banned local crypto exchanges from allowing exchanges between crypto assets and yuan in a 2017 law, but Chinese citizens can still trade renminbi into stablecoins through over-the-counter (OTC) desks.
Perhaps an exodus of OKEx users to other exchanges
The collapse in trading volume does not appear to be a mere loss of interest from users, especially considering that bitcoin is close to its all-time highs and other cryptocurrencies are on the rise.
Conversely, it could indicate that users are moving their stablecoins elsewhere, possibly to another exchange or their private cold wallets, according to some analysts and traders. Other exchanges used by Chinese users have also experienced similar problems due to a recent Chinese government crackdown on exchanges.
However, during the same period of time, the tether reserve on Huobi recorded a small increase, according to data from CryptoQuant, although the same metric decreased slightly on Binance.
A spokesperson for OKEx claimed that CryptoQuant's data did not match the company's internal data, but OKEx has not yet provided its version. However, data from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode also shows that a significant amount of tether and other stablecoins have left the exchange in the past week.
OKEx currently supports seven stablecoins on its platform: USDT, USDC, dai, Paxos standard (PAX), TUSD, USDK and GUSD. According to data from Glassnode, the USDC and PAX balances on OKEx have also dropped dramatically in the past week.
OKEx had temporarily suspended all cryptocurrency withdrawals due to the fact that one of its key holders was "untraceable" after "partnering with a public security bureau to investigate".
