The great crypto exchange war has begun: Binance made an end-run around Coinbase and now holds the most bitcoin reserve among crypto exchanges—$9.34 billion. _Binance is the exchange of the future, but I’d still bet on decentralized exchanges. _Despite its global success, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) doesn’t see a viable business in India. _It boils down to taxes and regulation. _On the other hand, Binance CTO Rohit Wad sees Web3 innovation taking root there. In Singapore, Binance is on the investor alert list. It doesn’t matter what country you’re in, this is not a good time to manage a centralized crypto exchange. And just so you’re not confused, there’s never a good time to hold your crypto in one.
Everyone’s still talking about FTX. And to be fair, there’s still a lot to talk about. The situation continues to develop. But I don’t want to beat a dying horse. The FTX horse isn’t technically dead yet, but if everyone with a keyboard keeps beating, it will soon be dead. Dying horse aside, I couldn’t help but turn you onto this INCREDIBLE READ about white boys, economic warfare, and the lending orgy at Alameda. _You don’t want to miss this. It’s like reading a trashy romance novel where the sex scenes are the best part of the story. Not that I would know, of course. _The biggest fool in the world says FTX’s failure put Coinbase in jeopardy.
Genesis sought an emergency $1 billion loan before halting withdrawals. Crypto Tips is predicting Genesis will toss its cookies TODAY.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is losing value FAST. Overexposure to FTX.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinhouse says there needs to be more trust and transparency in crypto. Ripple has expressed an interest in buying FTX assets. Ironically, bitcoin—the granddaddy of most cryptocurrencies, and daddy to some—was founded on the principles of trust and transparency. Actually, because you can’t trust centralized institutions, you should be able to engage in financial matters with total strangers because of trustless technology. And making transactions public would make them more transparent. The brave new crypto crowd doesn’t believe in trust or transparency, as we have recently seen.
Stolen FTX funds are being converted from ether to bitcoin, according to Chainalysis. Before he started converting, the hacker was the 27th largest holder of ETH. People will be talking about this FTX deal for decades to come. They’ll write books, sing lyrical ballads, and dedicate documentaries to Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) grandchildren. Speaking of SBF, someone looked up at the sky and exclaimed, “A bird, a plane, … oh, it’s just SBF’s private jet headed for Argentina.”
7 days ago, Edward Snowden tweeted that he just may jump back into the crypto pool. _That says a lot about where the market is right now. Some people say it hasn’t reached bottom yet. I say it’s pretty doggone near (not financial advice, of course). Evidently, Snowden does too. _On another note, Snowden is blasting Coinbase for its overcompliance policies. _As I said on Friday, there’s a _specter haunting the crypto worldTether wants you to know that FTX shenanigans will have no effect on USDT. What does this FTX thing have to do with Bitfinex and Tether?
The pros and cons of Web2 players getting hyped up on Web3. World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee is on a mission to save personal data without Web3. He calls it Web 3.0. One cannot deny the historical and cultural importance of Berner’s-Lee, but his Web 3.0 is no solution.
Why decentralized finance (DeFi) is the answer to FTX. I’ve been saying this all along. The answer to problems caused by centralization is not more centralization as certain people in government and corporate elites would have you believe. The answer is decentralization, which doesn’t mean that EVERYTHING should be centralized. It just means that decentralization is better equipped at handling problems caused by centralization, or problems that centralization can’t solve.
4 lessons every crypto investor should learn from the FTX debacle. Really, you shouldn’t need an FTX-type object lesson to drive these home. Hey, that gives me an idea for your next tattoo!
The Fed could use the FTX moment to sell the public on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) with the promise that “it will protect you.” _That would be like sending a drug-addled dragon to defend a village against a hurricane. The dragon could be the bigger threat, and it’s likely the hurricane will save the village from the dragon. _Washington watchdogs are “outgunned” by crypto pros. Law agencies were also outgunned by American gangsters until they began to use the same weapons.
How crypto is a mirror of society’s deeper, darker sociopolitical problems. This is an AWESOME READ. Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.
The FTX brouhaha is not leading anyone toward a systemic financial crisis. This should go without saying, but FTX is not Bear Stearns.
Money is draining out of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
Finally, someone verbalizes what was really wrong with SBF. Transgressive movie maker John Waters once opined, “If you go home with someone and they don’t have books, don’t f*ck them.” Sage advice if there ever was any. Well, here’s mine: If someone admits they don’t read, don’t go home with them, and certainly don’t put money—digital or otherwise—into their business enterprises.
The mystery of 200 DeFi projects revealed.
How to mint multi-tiered NFTs.
Is the metaverse destined to be a digital graveyard?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is attempting to squelch an algorithmic stablecoin launched by a DAO.
5 ways to make money playing NFT games. Can NFTs help save the planet?
Dutch banks cast a wary eye on the digital euro.
Snark and commentary are in italics. Inclusion of an item doesn’t mean I agree or endorse the ideas presented. Of course, it also doesn’t mean I don’t.
Cryptocracy is a decentralized newsletter published several times a week. I curate the latest news and crypto analysis from some of the brightest minds in crypto, and sometimes offer a little insightful and snarky commentary. Always fresh, always interesting, and always crypto. Original articles on Fridays.
First published at Cryptocracy. Not to be construed as financial advice. Do your own research.
Image credits: Edward Snowden, Edward Snowden on Twitter; DeFi projects, DeFiLlama