NEW DELHI (CoinChapter.com) — Customers are facing delays in purchasing Bitcoin (BTC) from the crypto exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), giving birth to speculations that the exchange might be running out of enough BTC tokens to fulfill demand.
Bitcoin Purchases Pending On Coinbase
A crypto trader shared a post on X, claiming that a Bitcoin purchase made on Coinbase “won’t be available until” Feb. 6, which led to users questioning if Coinbase was running out of Bitcoin tokens.
The post attracted other users who had faced similar issues in the past. Some advised the user to switch to other exchanges or wallets, while others had a more humorous take on the subject. For instance,
Schrodinger’s bitcoin. There but not there.
said one user.
Coinbase, on the other hand, claims to hold more than 995 million BTC tokens in its coffers, according to data from Arkham Intelligence. Among other exchanges, Coinbase remains at the top regarding its Bitcoin holdings, trailing behind only Satoshi Nakamoto.
In its Sept. 2023 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase declared holding Bitcoin tokens worth $55.7 billion as part of its ‘safeguarded customer crypto assets.‘
However, it might be that Coinbase is running out of ‘free‘ Bitcoin, as in BTC not held by other users on its platform, which could be causing delays in completing BTC purchases. Moreover, the exchange’s Sept. 2023 filing showed Coinbase holding only $12.4 million worth of BTC tokens for ‘operating purposes.‘
The reason behind the delay in Bitcoin purchases at Coinbase remains unclear, which could further fuel speculations of Coinbase running out of Bitcoins. At the time of writing, Coinbase had not replied to any attempts to reach out to them.
COIN Price Faces EMA Resistance
While rumors of Coinbase running out of BTC tokens to cater to user demand swirl, bears are aggressively defending the 20-day EMA (red wave) resistance near $140. The EMA trendline has been a bane for COIN bulls, rebuffing multiple upside attempts by COIN price since Jan. 2.
Breaking above the EMA resistance might help the COIN price target the resistance near $158 before corrections pare gains.
However, if the rumors of Coinbase running out of Bitcoin spread further, the exchange’s shares could see a drop in price to the 100-day EMA (blue wave) support near $119. Moreover, breaching the immediate support might force the COIN price to test the 200-day EMA (green wave) near $100.
The RSI for COIN remained neutral, scoring 46.68 on the daily charts.
