The previous year was an important period for the fundamental development of the crypto industry, according to BitMEX CEO Stefan Lutz. According to him, the collapse of many crypto platforms in 2022 – including the FTX crypto exchange – was a sad event, but the field of digital assets has reached a new level. Already this year, there has been a positive trend in a number of fundamental indicators, and in the future the situation will only improve. Let’s talk about what’s happening in more detail.
Stefan Lutz took up his position at the end of 2022. Prior to this, there were many personnel changes in the top management of BitMEX due to a lawsuit involving co-founder and former head of the exchange Arthur Hayes and several of his colleagues. Recall that in February 2022, Hayes pleaded guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act.
В ходе суда сторона обвинения добивалась более суровых мер в отношении подсудимого, то есть тюремного заключения. Однако команде юристов Хейса удалось выйти на более благоприятные условия – Хейс избежал срока в тюрьме.
What will happen to cryptocurrencies?
It’s been a tough year for the entire industry, but it’s also helped it grow, says Lutz. Here is a quote from his interview with Cointelegraph, in which the expert shared his own vision of what is happening.
Last year we saw big changes in the industry. More attention began to be paid to the need to confirm the reserves of cryptoplatforms, clear storage of assets and security.
Коллапс FTX произошёл в первую очередь из-за того, что руководство платформы использовало средства собственных пользователей без их ведома. Деньги в том числе шли на обеспечение торговых позиций смежной компании Alameda Research, приобретение недвижимости, финансирования политиков и прочих сомнительных действий.
With this in mind, after the collapse of the Sam Bankman-Freed crypto empire, many niche participants launched their own platforms with reporting on assets at their disposal. Thanks to the latter, users can study the situation with the assets of the exchange and draw the appropriate conclusions. Moreover, some platforms like WOO X update information on their own obligations, reserves and other important indicators every 15 minutes. An example of such a page can be found at the link.
Reserves page of the WOO X cryptocurrency exchange
BitMEX also pays a lot of attention to the transparency of its business. Starting in August 2021, the exchange began publishing evidence of its holdings and liability information twice a week, Lutz said. At the same time, the very concept of proof of reserves received a lot of criticism from various experts at the end of last year.
Здесь также можно отметить, что обновление настолько важных данных всего два раза в неделю — не лучшее решение. Эта информация становится неактуальной уже в течение часа, ведь провести определённые транзакции с резервами можно за считанные минуты. Хочется верить, что со временем крупнейшие биржи будут делиться данными в автоматическом режиме и куда чаще.
The second important topic of Lutz’s interview was exchange tokens. Last year, the reputation of this area of the crypto market received a serious blow after the collapse of the FTX exchange. The platform’s native token, ticker FTT, has dropped over 99 percent since hitting its all-time high. Nevertheless, exchange tokens have been and will continue to be an important part of the digital asset ecosystem, Lutz said. In addition, BitMEX also launched its exchange token.
It continues to trade steadily and provides our traders with a range of benefits on the exchange, from commission discounts to various rewards.
FTT token exchange rate from the FTX exchange for all time
The head of BitMEX assured reporters of the profitability of the exchange and the increase in user activity, as the increase in the popularity of Bitcoin this year has paid off on the trading platform. BitMEX also saw clear signs of new trends, namely the popularization of meme tokens like Pepe and AIDOGE.
Note that at the moment, trading volumes on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are at a minimum over the past year. The figure for yesterday amounted to the equivalent of 10.87 billion dollars.
Chart of trading volumes for the last year on centralized crypto exchanges
Most notably, decentralized exchanges like Uniswap currently account for 22 percent of all trading volumes on centralized crypto platforms. This is a record indicator, which indicates a significant increase in the popularity of the so-called DEX-platforms.
The ratio of trading volumes on decentralized and centralized crypto exchanges
Another factor indicating the imminent global crypto bullrun was published the day before by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. On Twitter, he said that cryptocurrencies have become the main topic of a fresh story on China Central Television (CCTV), the main broadcaster in the country.
According to Zhao, against the backdrop of the local government’s tough attitude towards cryptocurrencies, such narratives from the state media could well be regarded as a sign of the coming bullrun. Recall that back in 2021, the Chinese government officially banned Bitcoin mining and most operations with digital assets. At the same time, the country still has a huge community of fans of cryptocurrencies, and China has a significant influence on the industry.
Screenshot of a story about cryptocurrencies on CCTV
It is important to note that the video was eventually removed. You can watch it on Twitter if you want.
Notice of deleted page on China Television website
Мы считаем, что в ретроспективе события прошлого года действительно оказались полезными для индустрии криптовалют. Её ключевые игроки стали куда более прозрачными, из-за чего вся ниша в целом заслуживает больше доверия со стороны новых её участников. Так что здесь можно предположить, что в дальнейшем коллапс FTX и прочих компаний с сомнительной активностью скажется на сфере монет положительно.
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