BNB, the native token of Binance’s ecosystem, climbed to a fresh all-time high on Monday — even as the broader crypto market continued to recover from a brutal $19 billion liquidation wave over the weekend.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, BNB rallied to $1,370, surpassing its previous record and showing remarkable resilience after the massive sell-off that shook global exchanges. The move came as a surprise to many traders still reeling from the market crash that triggered widespread liquidations.
Despite the token’s surge, Binance faced a flood of criticism from users who accused the exchange of technical failures during the sell-off. Many traders claimed they were unable to close or adjust their positions due to sudden platform outages.
“I’m done with Binance. They shut down their system during a major market crash, leaving me unable to close my futures positions,” — posted crypto trader SleeperShadow on X (formerly Twitter).
Binance co-founder Yi He denied the accusations, attributing the events to broader market volatility rather than exchange issues.
“Data shows that the share of forced liquidations on Binance relative to total volume was at a normal low level — this was primarily a market-driven move,” she clarified in a post on Sunday.
Yi He added that although some internal modules experienced short-term delays, Binance’s key trading infrastructure — including its spot and futures engines — remained operational. To address user concerns, the exchange confirmed that it had distributed $283 million in compensation to users affected by technical hiccups.
Hyperliquid CEO: “Some Exchanges Are Hiding Liquidation Data”
Adding more fuel to the controversy, Jeff Yan, CEO and co-founder of decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, suggested that several centralized exchanges (CEXs) might be underreporting liquidation figures.
“Some CEXs publicly document that they dramatically underreport user liquidations. On Binance, even if thousands of liquidation orders occur in one second, only one might be reported,” Yan claimed on X, implying potential 100x underreporting during periods of market stress.
Market Makers Under Scrutiny After $700M BTC Transfer
The spotlight has also turned to market makers following the sudden market plunge. Blockchain data shows that Wintermute, a major liquidity provider, transferred roughly $700 million worth of Bitcoin to Binance just hours before the crash — a move that has raised eyebrows across the industry.
“Hours before the dump: Wintermute moved $700M to Binance. Then — bang. At $108K, liquidation speed maxed out. Buttons froze. Stops failed,” wrote on-chain analyst Merlijn The Trader on Monday.
This isn’t the first time Wintermute has been linked to major sell-offs. The firm was also associated with February’s $2.24 billion liquidation wave, which was partly driven by large-scale selling from multiple market participants.
According to Evgeny Gaevoy, founder of Wintermute, recent crypto crashes in 2025 have been “tightly correlated with traditional finance events”, citing market disruptions from DeepSeek developments and Trump’s new tariff policies as contributing factors.
Despite ongoing scrutiny, BNB’s impressive rebound suggests that investor confidence in Binance’s ecosystem remains strong — even as questions linger about transparency and the mechanics behind these massive liquidations.
