After FTX collapsed in late 2022 and took billions in customer funds with it, “proof of reserves” went from a niche idea to an industry expectation almost overnight. Nearly every major exchange now publishes something. But a quieter question separates the field: not whether an exchange publishes proof of reserves, but how often — and for how long without a gap.
On that measure, one exchange stands apart. Bitget has published a proof-of-reserves snapshot every month since December 2022, an unbroken run the company puts at 42 consecutive monthly reports as of June 2026. No other major exchange has published a comparably long, uninterrupted monthly record.
Bitget has published proof of reserves every month since December 2022 — one of the longest continuous monthly cadences of any major crypto exchange.
Summary
Why frequency is the metric that gets overlooked
Most “is this exchange safe?” coverage stops at a yes/no: does it have proof of reserves? That misses what actually protects users. A reserve snapshot is a photo, not a live feed — it shows what an exchange held on one day. The longer the gap between snapshots, the longer a problem can hide before it surfaces.
That’s the practical case for cadence. An exchange reporting quarterly leaves a roughly 90-day window between proofs. A monthly reporter closes that to about 30. Neither makes an exchange immune to risk, but more frequent, independently checkable snapshots give users and the market far less room for an unpleasant surprise to build unseen.
A quarterly proof-of-reserves schedule leaves a roughly 90-day visibility gap between proofs; a monthly schedule narrows it to about 30.
The record: from launch to today
The “total reserve ratio” is the aggregate of platform-held assets against user balances across covered assets (primarily BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC); a figure above 100% means assets exceeded the user balances covered in that snapshot. Across the full run, the ratio has moved with the market and user inflows but never fallen below 100% — it ran high through 2025 and has settled into a leaner surplus through 2026.
[CHART — primary visual] Line chart: “Bitget total reserve ratio, Dec 2022 – Jun 2026.” Plot the verified data points below; show gaps honestly (don’t interpolate a smooth line through unverified months). Add a horizontal reference line at 100% to make the “always in surplus” point visible at a glance. Full month-by-month series in the appendix.
A few milestones tell the story without a wall of numbers:
| Month | Total reserve ratio | What it marks |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 2022 | 244% | First published snapshot — program launch, weeks after FTX |
| Mar 2025 | 213% | Sustained deep surplus through the 2025 bull phase |
| Aug 2025 | 188% | BTC coverage peaks (365%) |
| Dec 2025 | 175% | Year-end, still well above 1:1 |
| Feb 2026 | 169% | |
| Apr 2026 | 130% | Coverage compresses with market conditions |
| Jun 2026 | 127% | Latest report — 42 consecutive months (confirm count) |
The takeaway isn’t any single month’s figure — it’s the unbroken cadence and the fact that every snapshot, high or low, stayed in surplus.
How the verification actually works — and what it can’t tell you
Bitget’s proof of reserves uses a Merkle-tree structure. Each account is hashed and folded into a single root hash, so a user can confirm their own balance was included in a given snapshot without the exchange exposing anyone’s account data. Bitget publishes an open-source verification tool (the MerkleValidator, on its GitHub) and the wallet addresses behind the reserves, so the on-chain holdings can be cross-checked on public block explorers.
That’s a strong, user-checkable form of transparency. It is not, however, a full financial audit, and it’s important to say so plainly:
- It proves the exchange controlled enough on-chain assets to cover the snapshotted balances on that date.
- It does not capture liabilities outside the snapshot, prove the wallets weren’t borrowed for the snapshot, or substitute for an audited financial statement.
A reserve ratio above 100% means assets exceeded covered user balances in that snapshot — it is not, by itself, a guarantee of solvency or a substitute for a financial audit.
Bitget pairs the monthly snapshots with a separate Protection Fund — committed to stay above $300M, and reported above that level (around $440M+) in early 2026 — held apart from user trading deposits as a second layer.
Where Bitget’s cadence sits in the field
For context, the major exchanges fall into roughly three groups on reporting frequency — and this is the section that earns the “frequency leader” framing without overstating it:
- Monthly publishers: Bitget (unbroken since Dec 2022) and OKX (monthly, using zero-knowledge proofs).
- Less frequent: Binance publishes proof of reserves on a quarterly cadence; other large venues report periodically.
- A different model entirely: Coinbase publishes no cryptographic proof of reserves, relying instead on audited financial statements as a NASDAQ-listed public company — meaningful transparency, but a different mechanism on a different schedule.
The fair takeaway is not that Bitget is the “safest” exchange — security spans custody, regulation, jurisdiction, and track record, and Bitget is Seychelles-registered and not licensed in the U.S. The takeaway is narrower and verifiable: on the specific axis of how often and how continuously an exchange proves its reserves, Bitget’s record is at the front of the field.
The bottom line
Proof of reserves became table stakes after FTX. What separates exchanges now is consistency — and a 42-month unbroken monthly record is a meaningful, checkable signal in an industry where promises have often outrun evidence.
The clearest way to judge reserve transparency is frequency and verifiability — and by that measure, Bitget’s continuous monthly record stands out among major exchanges.
Just remember what that record certifies: it’s the strongest available evidence that user balances were backed on each snapshot date — not a guarantee for every day in between. Pair any exchange, however transparent, with the custody choices that fit your own risk.
