How time flies, today marks my
first ever crypto meeting I attended as a newbie. I have been to several crypto meetups and seminars since then. The crypto event was sponsored by FTX, this was the first time I heard about them. It was well organized, they had over 500 persons in attended and I bet you over 80% downloaded the FTX trading app that day. The first speakers who I think were an ambassador for FTX spoke at length about the exchange, explaining how they work, what they provide and why they were better than others in the market positioning themselves to beginners as the number 1 destination for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. Looking back at this moment, it’s scary that a giant in crypto such as FTX turned out to be a fraud. At first I thought it was just competition between two big players Binance and FTX, but as things began to unravel in the following days, it became clear that there weren’t going to survive this one.Reading the news about FTX fallout, I found something that’s most interesting, it was reported that the company were not selling real bitcoin or ethereum on their platform but an IOU. It begs to question what other exchanges are operating like this? Crypto exchange Binance has released its new proof-of-reserve system that provides evidence that the exchange holds the digital assets it says it does. I do feel a sentimental attachment to FTX, regardless of that I wouldn’t trust centralized exchanges with $0.01.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
* Within hours of filing for bankruptcy, FTX said it was the victim of “unauthorized transactions” and that it would move its digital assets to cold storage for security purposes: As far as we know this information could be bull and FTX is trying play the Mt gox card. We all know what happened in 2014. FTX may just be trying to use that method to hide their shady dealings and lack of proper risk management as a company.
* Centralized Exchanges are supposedly regulated, that’s why some people feel at ease using because they are like banks sort of, so it beats me what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators were doing when FTX were playing with customers funds. How did FTX pass the books?
* Crypto meetings and seminars are great and should focus on crypto discussions only not company promotions. Be careful if they start promoting a crypto, a project or company. Sometimes it can become a Ponzi show and speakers start talking of steps to wealth and so on. Do not get too excited by the testimonies you hear at such meetings that you invest blindly. Don’t be persuaded or feel pressured to join, do your due diligence and make your own judgement.
* Question everything. Even if you’re a newbie, do not take everything you hear at a seminar, YouTube channel or discord without hesitation or reservation. Treat every new information with caution as it may very well affect the decisions you take concerning your crypto investments.
* The events that have occurred throughout the years across different crypto era Mt Gox in 2014, now FTX in 2022 has taught crypto investors that this CEXs cannot be trusted and we have come to realize the importance of using decentralized exchanges.
https://www.investopedia.com/what-went-wrong-with-ftx-6828447https://medium.com/@CryptoSavingExpert/binance-releases-proof-of-reserves-for-its-bitcoin-holdings-1ca82ff5a9ba
