Pendle Foundation, BitMEX Co-Founder Moving PENDLE To Binance—What’s Going On?

PENDLE, the native token of Pendle, a real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform, may be steady at press time. However, looking at CoinMarketCap data, the token is up 130X from its November 2022 lows and 41% from all-time highs registered in 2024.

As prices cool off, there are emerging concerns. According to trackers, the Pendle Foundation, tasked with promoting the RWA platform, has been offloading tokens. At the same time, Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX, one of the first crypto perpetual trading platforms, is selling.

Specifically, over the last three weeks, a big chunk of PENDLE transfers have been moved to Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, a net negative for sentiment.  

On September 16, the foundation’s governance wallet moved 600,000 PENDLE worth over $2.4 million to Binance. Over the past year, the wallet has moved 3.72 million PENDLE worth over $11.95 million to Binance.

Meanwhile, Spot on Chain has also picked out transfers from Hayes. On September 24, the BitMEX co-founder deposited 240,000 PENDLE worth over $958,000 to Binance. Over the last four days, Hayes has moved more than $6.5 million of the token to Binance.  

Hayes is one of the PENDLE whales. Although there is no direct proof that the former BitMEX executive has been selling, moving tokens to Binance could signal his intention to sell.

Currently, Hayes owns over 253,00 PENDLE worth nearly $990,000. This holding represents around 4% of his overall crypto portfolio.

Despite the exchange transfers, the token continues to shake off Q3 2024 weaknesses. Buyers are back in the equation after sinking to as low as $1.7 in early August.

At press time, the token is up 100% from August lows, and buyers are bent on reclaiming the April 2024 highs at around $7.2. For the uptrend to remain, buyers must hold steady above $3.5, or August highs, and sustain the current upside momentum.

Looking at the daily chart, bull bars are banding along the upper BB–a volatility indicator–suggesting that the underlying momentum is strong.

If buyers build on this, PENDLE could register fresh all-time highs, incentivizing more whales to HODL. Currently, CoinMarketCap data shows that over 58% of all tokens in circulation is held by whales.