The FTX aftermath: Exchanges shoulder this shared responsibility of…

Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com published its proof of reserve on 11 November and Shiba Inu [SHIB] took center stage. The move to publish the proof of reserve was in line with an industry-wide effort to enhance transparency. This was following the bankruptcy of the world’s second largest exchange, FTX.

Crypto.com shared data related to its holdings with blockchain analytics firm Nansen, who, in turn, came up with a dashboard that tracked the exchange’s addresses. 

20% holdings in SHIB

Popular meme coin Shiba Inu took the spotlight as Crypto.com released its holdings. The memecoin made up for 20% of Crypto.com’s holdings, representing $542 million of the total assets. Bitcoin [BTC] was the leading crypto in this dashboard, accounting for 31.86% of the exchange’s holdings,. It roughly translated to a little over $800 million. Ethereum [ETH] stood at rank #3, accounting for 17.18% of the dashboard. 

Stablecoins, including USDT and USDC, made up for almost 11% of the holdings. The rest were spread out among several other cryptocurrencies, including MATIC, MANA, and CHZ. 

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek stated on Twitter that this data only represented a portion of the exchange’s reserves. A comprehensive audit was also underway and a full report was expected within the next couple of weeks. 

While the Proof of Reserves audit preparation is underway, we are sharing our cold wallet addresses for some of the top assets on our platform.

This represents only a portion of our reserves: about 53,024 BTC, 391,564 ETH, and combined with other assets for a total of ~US$ 3.0b

— Kris | Crypto.com (@kris) November 11, 2022

Furthermore, investors had voiced their concerns about such a considerable portion of the platform’s reserves being held as meme coins. However, the company clarified that the holdings reflected customer deposits as well. 

Exchanges face pressure to publish proof of reserves

In the aftermath of FTX’s collapse, exchanges operating in the crypto industry have had to face the heat from traders and investors. These individual are urging for greater transparency in the crypto industry. 

Furthermore, Bitfinex recently shared their proof of reserves on Github. It published a list of over 130 addresses of both hot and cold wallets. Binance published similar details on 10 November, outlining over $70 billion worth of crypto holdings. 

Several other exchanges, including KuCoin, Huobi Global, and Deribit, have indicated that they would support the ongoing move and publish their proof of reserves soon.