Binance Converts $1B SAFU Fund to Bitcoin, Holds 15,000 BTC

Binance announced the completion of its SAFU fund’s conversion on Thursday, finalizing the process with a purchase of 4,545 BTC valued at $304.5 million. According to on-chain data from Lookonchain, the exchange executed the entire rebalancing in a series of separate purchases between February 2 and February 12. This brought the fund’s total holdings to exactly 15,000 BTC, worth just over $1 billion with Bitcoin trading around $67,000.

The swift execution came well within the 30-day window Binance initially outlined when announcing the plan on January 30. The completion marks a stark reversal from the exchange’s position in April 2024, when it converted the entire SAFU fund into the USDC stablecoin, citing stability as the primary motive. The Secure Asset Fund for Users, established in 2018, serves as an emergency insurance pool to cover potential user losses from extreme events like exchange hacks.

In explaining the about-face, Binance stated it now views Bitcoin as “the premier long-term reserve asset” and has aligned the SAFU with that conviction. The firm also committed to a maintenance strategy, pledging to rebalance the fund should its total value fall below $800 million due to Bitcoin price declines, thereby ensuring the fund’s core protective value is preserved.

The conversion of such a substantial sum from a stablecoin into Bitcoin was immediately interpreted by market observers as a significant capital injection. Crypto commentator Garrett described the move on social media platform X as “a direct capital injection into the market” and “what responsible builders do.” This sentiment underscores the perception that Binance’s action represents a major vote of confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term store of value proposition.

The announcement arrives as Binance continues to assert its dominance in the cryptocurrency trading landscape. Data from CryptoQuant indicates that in 2025, Binance accounted for approximately 41% of the spot trading volume among the top ten exchanges globally. The exchange also maintains similarly commanding shares in both Bitcoin perpetual futures markets and stablecoin reserves, reinforcing its central role in global crypto liquidity and price discovery.

Binance’s billion-dollar bet on Bitcoin comes at a time of notable price volatility for the asset. At the time of the announcement, Bitcoin was trading around $67,300, showing a slight 0.5% gain over 24 hours but remaining in negative territory over a seven-day period after a nearly 5% dip, according to CoinGecko data.

The broader picture reveals more pronounced corrections. Over the past fortnight, Bitcoin has shed just under 24% of its value, and it is down nearly 30% over the last month. This has kept its price more than 46% below its all-time high above $126,000, which was reached in October 2025. Against this backdrop of a significant pullback from recent peaks, Binance’s decision to convert a critical reserve fund into Bitcoin is a powerful statement of long-term conviction, positioning the SAFU not merely as a static insurance pool but as a strategic asset aligned with the growth of the crypto ecosystem it serves.