Binance Wallet Briefly Becomes Top ETH Gas Guzzler, Spending $859K in Fees

• On September 21st, a Binance wallet spent $859,000 in Ethereum gas fees from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM UTC.
• This unusual event made the Binance-owned wallet the top gas spender on Ethereum during that hour.
• Ethereum network transaction fees increased from 6 gwei to 332 gwei due to this massive gas usage.

In an unusual event, a Binance wallet spent a massive $859,000 in Ethereum gas fees within an hour while consolidating funds, per crypto data firm Kaiko.

On September 21st, a Binance-owned wallet rapidly became the top gas spender on Ethereum as it shifted ETH balances internally. From 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM UTC, this Ethereum address used $859,000 in fees across transactions.

The exorbitant gas usage caused Ethereum network transaction fees to spike from a minimum of 6 gwei to a maximum of 332 gwei during this period. However, prices normalized shortly after.

Binance clarified that it was consolidating ETH

Binance later clarified that it was consolidating ETH funds into a single wallet in a routine process, explaining the astronomical fees. While atypical, the event didn’t have lasting impacts beyond temporary fee volatility.

Kaiko also noted that ETH gas costs recently hit 2022 lows, with average fees dropping to $1.15 – the cheapest since December 2021. Lackluster trading activity on Ethereum has limited congestion and costs.

Additionally, altcoins have outperformed ETH so far in 2023 after last year’s Merge rally quickly faded. The ETH-BTC ratio sits around 0.076 currently, having steadily declined over the past year, per Kaiko.

While the reasons behind Binance’s massive gas expenditures remain vague, the data offers a unique perspective on the operations of a leading centralized exchange. The ability to rapidly spend nearly $1 million on network fees exemplifies the weight Binance still carries on Ethereum.