On November 16, the Bybit cryptocurrency exchange made public the addresses of their cryptocurrency wallets. This came after the collapse of FTX and calls within the industry for more transparency. Bybit published the addresses in a press release.
Nansen also produced a dashboard of Bybit wallets stating that over $1 billion of the exchange’s assets are in BTC, USDT, ETH, and USDC. In the press release, the company claimed that these assets account for more than 85% of the total cryptocurrency held by the exchange.
1) Disclosing Bybit main users asset wallets (excluding other assets and non consolidated wallets are too many to list ~+20%). Around $1.9B. Bybit is also working on POR solutions such as Merkel Tree on UID level. https://t.co/fAszQVKNJF
— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) November 16, 2022
Disclosure of major Bybit users’ asset wallets (excluding other assets and unconsolidated portfolios are too many to list ~+20%). Around USD 1.9 billion. Bybit is also working on POR solutions like Merkel Tree at the UID level.
The cryptocurrency market has experienced a crisis as FTX, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has been unable to process withdrawals and has filed for bankruptcy. In the wake of this crisis, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has defended that all exchanges create a Proof of Reserves protocol that demonstrates to the community that its assets are equal to or greater than its liabilities.
Bybit’s publication of wallet addresses is not proof of reserve because it does not provide a Merkle tree of the exchange’s liabilities to clients. However, publishing the wallet addresses is a precondition for implementing Proof-of-Reserve later, if Bybit decides to do so.
In the press release, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that the exchange is committed to ensuring transparency going forward, saying: “We believe exchanges need to be proactive in creating a new type of transparency.” And continued:
“We must improve all financial models to fulfill the promise of blockchain technology, which is real-time, instant and verifiable information on assets and liabilities held by all players in the space, and this is what we are determined to deliver” .
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