Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced plans to convert the entire $1 billion from its User Protection Fund (SAFU) from stablecoins to Bitcoin over the next 30 days.
This move was announced amidst a $17 billion rush in cryptocurrency asset liquidations and chaos caused by asset fluctuations of up to $9 trillion.
Binance to convert $1 billion SAFU Fund to Bitcoin
The SAFU Fund was established in 2018 and began operations with revenue from Binance's trading fees. It serves as a financial backstop to protect users in the event of platform-related incidents.
Under the new policy, Binance plans to gradually purchase Bitcoin to avoid a sudden impact on the market. This is a bold and centralized decision for user fund backstopping using BTC by a private exchange.
"If the market capitalization of the fund falls below 800 million dollars due to fluctuations in Bitcoin prices, Binance will continue to buy additional BTC to restore the fund to its target amount of 1 billion dollars," the exchange stated as part of its rebalancing protection measures.
In a public letter to the community, Binance positioned this measure as part of its extensive commitment to transparency, governance, and the long-term development of the industry.
"BTC is at the core of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and is an asset that demonstrates long-term value," stated the exchange, emphasizing that "during significant market fluctuations, we share uncertainty with the industry."
At the time of the announcement, Bitcoin was fluctuating below its recent all-time high, as the entire market continues to adjust. Although there is no immediate sign of a price surge, sentiment is spreading that the SAFU conversion scheme will bring steady buying pressure.
To transition 1 billion dollars to Bitcoin over 30 days, approximately 33 million dollars of BTC purchases will continue per day. This movement may also serve as a stabilizing factor during price declines.
Additionally, the 800 million dollar rebalancing threshold indicates Binance's intention to pick up lower prices when Bitcoin prices sharply decline.
"The daily funding sources for this fund are Binance's trading fee revenue, so in the future, Binance will become a company that continues to buy Bitcoin through dollar-cost averaging," commented analyst AB Kuai Dong.
Binance emphasizes user protection, compliance, and ecosystem growth for 2025.
In addition to the influx of funds into Bitcoin, Binance also disclosed detailed operational results for 2025. They emphasized their commitment to user protection and regulatory compliance.
According to reports, last year they supported the return of a total of 48 million dollars in 38,648 erroneous deposit cases. The cumulative recovery amount has exceeded 1.009 billion dollars since the service began.
Furthermore, it was reported that they notified 5.4 million users of potential risks and prevented an estimated 6.69 billion dollars in fraud losses.
In addition, it was said that it contributed to the recovery of 131 million dollars in illicit funds in collaboration with law enforcement agencies in various countries throughout 2025.
In terms of transparency, the latest proof of reserve (PoR) disclosed that the total value of users' held assets across 45 types of cryptocurrencies is fully backed by 16.28 billion dollars.
In terms of ecosystem growth, 21 projects from public blockchains will be newly introduced in the physical listing in 2025. Among them, 13 chains are new launches, covering a wide range of applications such as payments, gaming, and social networking.
It is currently unclear whether this SAFU conversion will become a trigger for a major Bitcoin bull run in the future.
Will Binance become a financial management company for Bitcoin?
This move is often treated similarly to companies that previously increased market credibility by accumulating Bitcoin, but it is important to note that Binance is not a publicly traded company.
Digital Asset Financial Institutions (DAT) are typically discussed in the context of publicly traded companies that provide exposure to cryptocurrencies without directly allowing stock market investors to hold them. Since Binance does not hold publicly traded stocks, it does not fall into this category of DAT.
Moreover, SAFU is only a fund for emergency and user protection purposes and is not a financial strategy for enhancing corporate profits or shareholder value. For Binance, it is a reallocation strategy of existing reserves, particularly applicable to asset transfers within the SAFU wallet.
"As of January 2026, the SAFU fund wallet contains 1 billion USDC," Binance explained.
This is a fund managed centrally by Binance's operations team and is not a mechanism for decentralized or external investors.
As regulatory tightening and market turmoil increase, Binance is strengthening its focus on Bitcoin. This is because it believes that long-term value propositions will ultimately prevail over short-term fluctuations.
