Setting new standards for crypto exchanges in the post-FTX era: Report
The year 2022 saw a historic breakdown of trust in exchanges and other crypto service providers. The collapses of Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried’s FTX and Alex Mashinsky’s Celsius are still fresh in the community’s memory, with SBF’s criminal trial only recently concluding. These cases serve as a painful reminder that fraud and bad business practices can happen in corporations of any size and that crypto, as a nascent industry, is especially susceptible. A sleek website, high trading volume or primetime television ads are no guarantee that a customer’s savings will be safe.
To advance the industry, it is imperative to set new standards for centralized third-party service providers in crypto. To this end, a new report from Cointelegraph Research surveyed nine major crypto exchanges — Binance, Bit2Me, Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Bybit, Coinbase, HTX, Kraken and OKX — and compared them with a particular focus on consumer and funds protection.
Download a PDF of the Report for free from the Cointelegraph Research Terminal.
Looking into the facts
The report analyzed whether companies are located in a tax haven or a pro-customer jurisdiction, the transparency of their corporate finances, and how they ensure the user’s assets are secure and well-handled. These considerations are especially relevant for risk-averse individuals and businesses — those willing to compromise on fees and trading volume to ensure that the funds they hold on an exchange have all possible protections.
Some jurisdictions — often those notorious for being tax havens — offer companies leeway to do less for consumer protection and regulatory compliance. This ranges from the safekeeping of personal data to responsible risk disclosure. All other things being equal, it can sometimes be a red flag if an exchange seeks out a less regulated environment. The map below presents how safe the customer is in some of the most popular jurisdictions among centralized exchanges.
Based on the analysis, Bit2Me and Kraken stand out in all the categories examined. They are both headquartered in jurisdictions with strong customer protection regulations and have credible third-party proof-of-reserve audits and payment infrastructure. Besides, they provide extensive risk disclosure to their consumers through their interfaces.
Download a PDF of the full Report for free from the Cointelegraph Research Terminal.
To achieve true mass adoption, crypto needs to be brought into regulatory frameworks. This doesn’t mean giving up on the principles of decentralization and privacy but instead finding a balance where these principles can coexist with legal and financial safeguards.
Regulatory clarity and compliance, especially those directed to protect customers, would increase trust among potential users and open opportunities for institutional investors and businesses to enter the crypto space. The crypto community should strive to create an ecosystem where the benefits of crypto are accessible to everyone while minimizing the risks of fraud, money laundering and bad business practices that might put personal cryptocurrency savings in jeopardy.
The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security or investment product.
Cointelegraph does not endorse the content of this article nor any product mentioned herein. Readers should do their own research before taking any action related to any product or company mentioned and carry full responsibility for their decisions.
Politics
MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn
An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.
Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.
She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.
Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter
Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.
She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.
Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.
However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.
Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.
The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.
Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.
In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.
Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.
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Protesters block Israeli arms manufacturer in Bristol
On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.
She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.
Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.
She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.
Ms Sultana called Nigel Farage a ‘billionaire-backed grifter’. Pic: PA
The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.
“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.
“We are not going to take this anymore.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.
“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”
Roman Storm is scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom for his criminal trial on July 14, facing money laundering and conspiracy charges.
The Wyoming Senator seeks to end double taxation and add clarity to the tax treatment of crypto staking, mining, and lending transactions.
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