Over 32,000 Bitcoins worth approximately $335 million were withdrawn from the BitMEX cryptoderivatives exchange in less than 24 hours following charges by US authorities. The data was provided by Philip Gradwell, lead economist at Chainalysis.
Some of the withdrawn Bitcoins went to Gemini and other exchanges, while others went to users' personal wallets. Gradwell expects a continued outflow of funds from BitMEX.
The analytical firm Coin Metrics estimates that over 37,000 bitcoins have been withdrawn from BitMEX. Firms focus on different sources, which explains the discrepancies in the data they provide.
It is estimated that between 135,000 and 170,000 bitcoins remain in BitMEX wallets at present. This indicates that many customers have decided not to withdraw their assets from the exchange yet. There have also been no extraordinary changes in the volume of active trader positions. Bitcoin contracts have fallen by around 16% or $119 million to $627 million. In the case of Ethereum contracts, the drop was 37%, bringing the open interest rate to $103 million.
BitMEX stated in response to the charges: "We strongly disagree with the tough decision of the US authorities to press these charges and intend to actively defend ourselves. From the outset, we have always sought to comply with US law as understood at the time, using the available manuals.