Key Takeaways
- •Over $34.5 billion in crypto has moved between Binance and market maker Wintermute in just 30 days, with coordinated transfers preceding major market dumps.
- •The October 10 crypto market “flash crash” saw Wintermute receive $700 million from Binance shortly before wiping out $19 billion in leveraged long positions and buying back assets at deep discounts.
- •Despite rumors of Wintermute preparing to sue Binance over the crash losses, Wintermute’s CEO has firmly denied any such plans, and former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), calls out “FUD.”
Retail traders in the crypto market, hoping for a quiet ride in October, never stood a chance. Market drama? Check. Liquidations? Billions worth. Wild conspiracy threads? More than enough to fill a dozen Twitter timelines. But beyond the noise, fresh on-chain evidence and trading records suggest that something far less random. And far more profitable for the big players, like Binance and Wintermute, may have been in play.
The $34.5 Billion Cycle Between Binance and Wintermute
In the past month, over $34.5 billion has reportedly moved between Binance and Wintermute. One of the world’s largest crypto exchanges and crypto market makers, and analysts have highlighted a consistent pattern.
Hours before every major dump, Binance cold wallets send sizeable chunks (sometimes $10 million, sometimes nearly $100 million) in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana to Wintermute-controlled addresses.
What happens next borders on mechanical. Wintermute deposits this liquidity on Binance, unleashes a battering of spot sell orders across major trading pairs, and (sure enough), what follows is an avalanche of forced liquidations. Then? As a crypto influencer and KOL ‘BUTCHER’, commented, a sudden, violent drawdown in the wider market.
October 10 Crypto Market Flash Crash: An Algorithmic Playbook
Take the now-infamous October 10 event. As BUTCHER reveals, at exactly 04:00 UTC, Wintermute received $700 million from Binance wallets. Within half an hour, sell walls on BTC, ETH, and SOL were visible across Binance’s spot books.
By 05:00, over $19 billion in leveraged long positions were wiped out globally. It was the largest liquidation event in crypto market history, from which crypto investors are still recovering.
Bitcoin, for instance, crashed from over $121,000 to $103,000 while derivative traders were helpless to stop the carnage.
Wintermute then proceeded to scoop up discounted coins as the market found a temporary bottom. They pocketed the difference between the aggressively sold and deeply rebought assets.
Meanwhile, Binance capitalized on massive funding-rate reversals and, after user outcry, claimed to pay out $283 million in direct compensation to affected traders. The company also announced a $400 million “Together Initiative” stabilization fund, although questions remain regarding the allocation and recipients of those funds.
It Keeps Happening
Incredibly, this wasn’t a one-off. The playbook appears to have repeated itself at least four times in 2025 alone. It’s a choreography of pre-dump funding, strategic spot selling, and mass forced liquidations. Each time, the board is reset, and large players get another shot at the bid.
On November 3, the same routine: Binance sent over $1.14 billion in BTC to Wintermute, who then dumped it onto the market during a major Fed speech. That triggered over $1.16 billion in liquidations as retail longs got wiped and deep bidders (often whales) quietly refilled.
There’s more. On November 4, on-chain trackers reported millions in ETH and BTC being deposited from Wintermute wallets to Binance, OKX, and KuCoin. History would suggest that these transfers are a lot more than routine rebalancing. This type is transaction usually precedes major volatility. And traders are on high alert.
Collusion or Coincidence? The Industry Reacts
On-chain tracker, DeFi Tracer, posted, “PRAY FOR CRYPTO,” while other analysts pointed to “straight-up manipulation” that scares retail into selling cheaply.
Beneath the rumors and retail anxiety, the broader macro liquidity trend remains bullish. Global central banks are shifting away from tightening. QT is winding down, QE is already in motion in China and parts of Europe, and many expect the Fed to follow.
Institutions are holding firm (ish), and as liquidity erupts, what looks like market manipulation today might just be the inevitable prelude to another explosive run for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.
Binance and Wintermute Deny Wrongdoing
While critics have called this coordinated, both companies officially deny wrongdoing. Wintermute regularly appears as one of Binance’s largest liquidity providers according to exchange and on-chain data.
CEO Evgeny Gaevoy insists all transfers are part of routine market-making operations, not attempts at manipulation. Despite rumors of Wintermute’s implosion following the October 10 flash crash, Gaevoy reassured followers (and critics alike) in a post on X:
“Sorry to disappoint you, but Wintermute is perfectly fine, business as usual,”
He attributed large BTC moves to mere rebalancing. Binance, for its part, remains silent on the link, citing privacy and liquidity obligations to institutional partners. Founder and former CEO CZ, simply commented:
“Lots of random FUD in the market… Whales are pouncing on it, spreading more FUD, and cashing in on it.”
Lawsuit Rumors And a Swift Denial
Following October’s carnage, rumors swirled that Wintermute would sue Binance over multimillion-dollar liquidations supposedly triggered by exchange price glitches and system errors.
But according to Wintermute executives, these rumors are unfounded. Gaevoy personally called lawsuit talk “complete bulls*it.” He added that the firm’s systems functioned as designed and that risk controls did their job.
Retail’s New Reality
Yet the facts remain: over $34 billion has pulsed between these behemoths. Millions have been liquidated in targeted dumps on the crypto market, and neither Binance nor Wintermute has convincingly explained away the on-chain synchrony between their actions and subsequent market cascades.
Maybe it’s just business as usual, maybe it’s something more. Either way, for retail, the game hasn’t gotten any easier. When whales tango, it’s always the small fish that feel it first.