By Richard Hines
Over $100 billion has been lost by top 17 cryptocurrency exchanges between March and December. Ranging from the Luna crash to the FTX exchange down to Changpeng Zhao CZ of Binance, have been victims of these huge losses.
2022, A Year Of Losses
The now-defunct FTX exchange was flying high at the start of this year as exchanges reported massive trading volumes and investment. Its performance set it up as a contender to Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
The company’s founder, Sam Bankman Fried, also made a dazzling entry into the Forbes list of the top crypto millionaires, coming in at number two.
Fast forward to the present, Sam Bankman Fried is not living as lavish after his company declared bankruptcy and liquidated all assets. Prior to his arrest, reports indicated that his net worth was down below $200,000 and that he would be unable to pay his attorneys.
This FTX crash signaled a disastrous end to crypto this year, shaking the entire market to its core.
Following the list of significant crashes was the crash occurrence in May of the Terra USD stable coin, which marked the beginning of doom for the crypto space, wiping out billions of dollars and leaving investors in a state of depression and turmoil.
Another significant event was the crash of the Three Arrows Capital 3AC, which sent shockwaves through the market, consuming and devouring consumer funds and destabilizing the market.
Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager, and a few other companies have also experienced crashes.
According to a statistics report, over 17 top wealthy crypto exchanges have experienced crashes, resulting in an outflow and loss of more than $110 billion since March.
Confidence in Binance Cracks
The Binance exchange is a recent one that the entire industry is watching gradually play out. A large outflow of funds was observed on the exchange just a few weeks ago after a dubious audited proof of reserve snapshot discovery was made.
According to reports, the Binance exchange is currently the subject of an investigation and is also seen to be the driving cause behind the demise of FTX.
Furthermore, due to worries that the Binance in-house token BNB may or may not be termed as a security, the majority of U.S. exchanges have declined to list it on their platform.