Bybit's $19.6B Proof-of-Reserves Report Shows User Shift From USDT
Key Takeaways
- •Bybit's 40th proof-of-reserves report showed mainstream user assets rising to $19.6 billion as of Sept. 23, up from $18.1 billion, with verification by Hacken.
- •Bitcoin holdings increased 0.24% to roughly 56,100 BTC and Ethereum holdings rose 2.96% to about 551,900 ETH, against exchange wallets holding 58,721 BTC and 570,018 ETH.
- •User USDT balances declined 11.46% to approximately 3.59 billion compared with the Aug. 26 snapshot, a change that may reflect reallocation between cryptocurrencies and stablecoins rather than withdrawals from the exchange.
- •Holdings of USDe, the synthetic dollar token issued by Ethena, surged 62.41% to around 516 million, indicating a shifted asset mix among users relative to the prior period.
- •All 50 assets covered by the September report posted reserve ratios above 100%, including 110% for USDT, 104% for BTC, and 223% for USDC, after Bybit added 10 new tokens to its coverage.
Bybit has released its 40th proof-of-reserves report, showing that user holdings of Bitcoin and Ethereum rose in the latest snapshot while Tether (USDT) balances declined sharply. Mainstream assets under user custody totaled $19.6 billion as of Sept. 23, up from $18.1 billion in the previous disclosure. The figures were independently verified by Hacken, a blockchain security firm. Proof-of-reserves reports, which let users compare an exchange's wallet holdings against customer balances, became a standard transparency practice among major centralized exchanges following high-profile platform collapses in 2022. The full report is available in Bybit's official.
Bitcoin user holdings increased 0.24% to approximately 56,100 BTC, while Ethereum holdings climbed 2.96% to roughly 551,900 ETH. Bybit's published figures show the exchange held 58,721 BTC and 570,018 ETH against those user balances.
USDT Holdings Decline
The most significant change came from USDT. User balances fell 11.46% to about 3.59 billion USDT compared with the Aug. 26 snapshot. However, the decline does not by itself show that users withdrew funds from Bybit. Changes in exchange balances can also reflect users moving between cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
The report also recorded a notable rise in USDe holdings, which increased 62.41% to roughly 516 million. USDe is the synthetic dollar token issued by Ethena. That shift, alongside higher BTC and ETH balances, points to a different asset mix among users compared with the previous reporting period.
Reserve Coverage Remains Above 100%
Despite the changes in user balances, Bybit reported reserve ratios above 100% for all 50 assets covered by the September report. A ratio above 100% means the exchange's wallet holdings exceed the corresponding user balances. USDT reserves stood at 110%, with about 3.96 billion USDT in wallet holdings against 3.59 billion USDT in user assets. BTC reserves reached 104%, while ETH reserves stood at 103%. USDC posted a substantially higher reserve ratio of 223%.
Bybit also expanded its proof-of-reserves coverage with 10 additional tokens, bringing the total to 50. The company said the selection focuses on assets with meaningful assets under management.
The latest disclosure provides a snapshot of how user assets were distributed on the exchange at a specific point in time. It does not, by itself, establish why individual balances changed or predict future allocation trends. As the 40th installment in an ongoing reporting series, it gives readers a comparable record against which future disclosures can be measured.
