Key Takeaways
- Garrett Jin deposited all 577,896 ETH ($1.35B) into Binance over 4 days ending May 11, 2026.
- Jin acquired the ETH by swapping BTC at $4,591 per ETH; the position has since lost about 49%.
- The Bitforex founder still holds roughly 9,343 BTC worth $757M despite the ETH drawdown.
A $1.35 Billion ETH Offload and a Costly Trade
A wallet attributed to Garrett Jin completed the transfer of its entire ether ( ETH) holdings to Binance on Sunday. The final batch was 225,627 ETH, worth approximately $528.19 million at current prices, bringing the total deposit over four days to 577,896 ETH, or roughly $1.35 billion.
The transfer closes the book on what appears to be a costly trade given Jin swapped his bitcoin holdings for ETH approximately eight months ago, when ether was changing hands at $4,591 per coin. ETH is currently trading around $2,330, meaning the position has lost roughly 49% of its value in ETH terms since acquisition.
The implied loss runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars, though the exact figures depend on the original price Jin received for his bitcoin and any fees incurred across the swap. Onchain data shows Jin still holds approximately 9,343 BTC, worth roughly $757 million at current prices, suggesting the full portfolio remains substantial despite the ETH position’s underperformance.
Bitforex Ties and the Ethereum Exodus
Garrett Jin is best known as the founder of Bitforex, a cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in 2024. Despite his exchange’s fall from grace, Jin has remained an active and closely-watched onchain participant, with previous massive BTC-to-exchange transfers drawing significant market attention throughout 2025 and 2026.
The timing of all this has been notable as ethereum has been under pressure from institutional headwinds, including a stretch of ETF outflows that have compounded bearish sentiment around the asset. ETH’s underperformance relative to BTC over the past year has become a widely discussed narrative in crypto circles, and Jin’s apparent exit from his ETH position, if confirmed as a sale, would only reinforce that story.
Whether Jin’s Binance deposits translate into spot sales or are parked for other purposes will likely become clearer over the coming days as exchange order flow data is analyzed.
