Someone just moved a lot of Zcash off Binance. A newly created wallet starting with the identifier t3TFwP withdrew 11,827 ZEC, worth approximately $7.96M, from the exchange in one transaction.

A pattern of large ZEC withdrawals

This isn’t the first time a freshly minted wallet has siphoned a significant chunk of Zcash from Binance in recent weeks. Another newly created wallet previously withdrew 15,333 ZEC, valued at roughly $4M at the time of that transaction, from the same exchange.

There’s also been a separate $3.12M ZEC withdrawal to yet another fresh wallet. Three large withdrawals, three brand-new wallets, one exchange.

And it’s not just Zcash seeing this kind of activity. A separate new wallet pulled 676.72 BTC, worth approximately $55.1M, from Binance as well.

Why Binance, and why now

Binance has faced operational issues with its ZEC wallet infrastructure, at one point temporarily halting Zcash withdrawals before eventually resuming service.

Zcash has been considered for removal from Binance multiple times due to regulatory pressures surrounding privacy coins. Several major exchanges globally have already dropped ZEC and similar tokens like Monero in response to compliance requirements, particularly in jurisdictions with strict anti-money laundering rules.

The self-custody thesis for privacy coins

Zcash’s shielded transactions only work when the user controls the keys. Sitting in a Binance hot wallet, ZEC is just another transparent token with extra steps.

What this means for investors

Unlike Monero, where all transactions are private by default, Zcash lets users choose between transparent and shielded transactions.

If Binance does eventually delist ZEC, the price impact would likely be severe regardless of how much has already been withdrawn. Binance remains one of the largest venues for ZEC trading globally, and losing that access would remove a significant source of demand and liquidity overnight.