Stablecoin reserves across crypto exchanges have experienced a sharp decline, a warning sign for the cryptocurrency market, according to a revelation disclosed today by market analyst Ali Martinez.
As per data shared by the analyst, stablecoin reserves across digital asset exchanges have decreased from $75 billion, a level noticed three months ago, to the current $64.5 billion level, representing a 14% fall.
Stablecoin reserves are coins held on crypto exchanges, indicating the level of their balances and market liquidity.
What the Decrease in Stablecoin Reserves Means
Crypto investors, traders, and users often utilize stablecoins to buy and transact cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and several others on various trading platforms.
A surge in stablecoin balances on crypto exchanges is typically an indicator of user demand, increased liquidity, and traders’ willingness for active trading. On the other hand, a decline in the balances is a sign of a decrease in investment interest in the wider crypto market. This, therefore, means that overall crypto exchanges have experienced three straight months of negative stablecoin netflows, indicating a sustained decrease in cryptocurrency market liquidity, as disclosed by the metrics shared today by Ali.
The data revealed that stablecoin reserves on exchanges have decreased from $75 billion in November to $64.5 billion currently, reflecting a decline of $10.5 billion. This decrease indicates stablecoin outflows from exchanges as declining balances reduce the capability to absorb price volatility.
The stablecoin outflows happen amid heightened macroeconomic uncertainty that has influenced investors to behave in defensive positioning. The withdrawal of funds from exchanges showcases a shift among investors towards risk-off positioning, as they reduced their exposure to volatile assets. This explains the reason why most crypto assets have recalled their prices, as illustrated by Bitcoin and Ethereum, which currently trade their prices at $68,077 and $1,977, down 3.22% and 4.06% over the past week, respectively.
The trend has continued without indicators of stabilization, a development that keeps putting elevated pressure on crypto prices.
Binance Suffered Most
Amid the decrease in stablecoin balances on exchanges, Binance witnessed heavy outflows for the three consecutive months, dropping from $50.9 billion to the current $41.8 billion. The $9.1 billion drop on Binance accounted for most of the declines of stablecoin reserves across exchanges.
Data reported by CryptoQuant on Friday, February 20, 2026, disclosed that Binance currently holds $41.8 billion, which represent 65% of the entire stablecoin reserves across major centralized crypto exchanges.
The data further showed that OKX is currently the second-largest crypto exchange, as it currently holds 13.09% of total stablecoin reserves. Coinbase, ByBit, MEXC, and Bitget are in third, fourth, and fifth position, as they hold 7.91%, 6.47%, 2.5%, and 1.01% of total stablecoin reserves, respectively, as per the data.
