Binance receives $1.35B ETH deposit from Garrett Jin as crypto market rebounds
Garrett Jin, the founder of collapsed crypto exchange BitForex, deposited approximately 577,896 ETH into Binance over a four-day stretch ending May 11. The total haul: roughly $1.35B worth of Ethereum, capped by a final transfer of 225,627 ETH valued at $528 million.
Roughly eight months ago, Jin swapped a substantial BTC position into ETH at a price of $4,591 per coin. At current prices, that trade has produced an estimated $1.3B in unrealized losses.
Analysts tracking the deposits have flagged two competing interpretations. The bearish read is straightforward: Jin is preparing to liquidate, which would dump significant supply into the market and potentially trigger cascading sell pressure. The alternative view is that Jin could be positioning for staking, lending, or further trading rather than an outright sale. No confirmed sell orders have been initiated in connection with these deposits, which lends some credibility to the repositioning thesis.
Jin’s deposits aren’t happening in isolation. The Ethereum Foundation sold 100,000 ETH on April 26 at a price of $2,337, a move that reignited debate about centralization risks and how large holders influence ETH’s supply dynamics.
The immediate risk is clear: if Jin begins liquidating even a fraction of his 577,896 ETH position on Binance, the sell pressure could weigh on ETH’s price in the short term. A $1.35B position represents meaningful supply relative to ETH’s daily trading volume. For ETH holders, the key metric to watch is Binance outflow data. If Jin’s ETH starts moving off the exchange or into staking contracts, that’s a signal the deposits were strategic rather than a prelude to selling.
There’s also the reputational angle. Jin founded BitForex, an exchange that collapsed. Large, opaque movements from founders of failed platforms tend to attract regulatory scrutiny and erode market trust, regardless of the actual intent behind the trades.
