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Binance has finally addressed accusations of market manipulation after traders claimed the exchange was “dumping” millions of SOL and ETH tokens through market maker Wintermute.

On February 24, on-chain data showed Binance’s hot wallet transferring 103,570 SOL ($16.32M) and 25,000 ETH ($80M) to Wintermute. Many traders assumed these transactions were sell-offs aimed at manipulating the market. However, Binance has denied these allegations.

Binance: “No Market Manipulation Happened”

In a recent response on X , Binance stated that traders had misunderstood the transactions.

Hello there,

Binance hasn’t “dumped” or “sold” large amounts of tokens as some tweets have misunderstood. As an exchange, we simply help users match trades and we have no visibility into our users’ decisions, including market makers who may move their assets according to their…

— Binance Customer Support (@BinanceHelpDesk) February 26, 2025

The exchange also warned against jumping to conclusions based on on-chain screenshots, emphasizing the need to recognize fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) tactics in the market.

Understanding Market Makers Like Wintermute

To clarify the situation, Binance urged users to learn about market makers like Wintermute, which help facilitate liquidity in the crypto market.

📌 Key Points About Market Makers:
✔ They place buy and sell orders to reduce price gaps.
✔ They absorb large trades to stabilize the market.
✔ They receive token incentives from exchanges to maintain liquidity.

An analyst on X explained that Wintermute was not buying tokens from Binance. Instead, it was withdrawing tokens from Binance’s holdings to maintain market stability.

As far as I understand it, this actually means that Wintermute is withdrawing $SOL from the Binance Hot Wallet account, likely after purchasing it from the order books, or unstaking it from Binance staking service; and not that Binance itself is selling the Solana tokens.

— Vini Barbosa (@vinibarbosabr) February 24, 2025

Market Reaction and Bitcoin’s Drop Below $90K

The timing of the SOL and ETH transfers fueled speculation that Binance was preparing for volatility. The next day, Bitcoin’s price fell below $90,000, triggering over $1 billion in liquidations.

Some traders accused Binance, Bybit, and other exchanges of coordinating massive sell-offs. However, there is no concrete evidence to support these claims.

In response, Binance reaffirmed its commitment to fair trading, linking to its market surveillance program designed to prevent manipulation.

Will Binance’s Explanation Calm the Market?

With market sentiment shaken, Binance’s response aims to ease concerns over its SOL and ETH transfers. But will traders accept the explanation, or will speculation continue?