Now that FTX is no more, which major crypto exchange will be next on the chopping block? The odds at the top crypto gambling sites may surprise you.
It’s been over a year since FTX went bankrupt, taking down over 100 related companies with it – and everything seems fine. The sky did not fall; cryptocurrency is much bigger than any one crypto exchange, and the laws in place are more robust now than they were 10 years ago when Mt. Gox (which handled over 70% of Bitcoin transactions at the time) went belly-up.
Businesses fail every day, no matter what business you’re in. Sometimes it’s a security breach, like what happened at Mt. Gox in 2014 and Cryptopia in 2019. Sometimes, like at FTX, it’s because Sam Bankman-Fried broke the law. And every once in a while, you get a perfect blend of incompetence and malfeasance – we’re looking at you, QuadrigaCX (d. 2019).
So who’s going to be the next major crypto exchange to fall off the map and file for bankruptcy? As we go to press, the crypto odds at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review) have some big names at the top of their list; let’s do a health check on the leading favorites and see if there’s any betting value out there, and whether some of us might need to get our assets moving.
What’s this? The company with its name plastered on the home of LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers? Sponsorships like this didn’t stop FTX from going bankrupt – but Crypto.com is one of the consistently highest-ranked exchanges in the marketplace. Being based in Singapore might have something to do with it.
Then again, Crypto.com did decide to shut down their U.S. institutional exchange last summer. Their token, Cronos, took a big hit when FTX went down, losing some $1 billion in value. But this is still the world’s No. 17-ranked exchange at press time in terms of trading volume, handling $1.18 billion over the past 24 hours across 310 different coins. All is well for now.
Now we’re getting into the good stuff. Binance runs two different exchanges; the first opened in 2017, then a separate American-facing company was launched in 2019 after pressure from U.S. lawmakers. And they’re definitely both in a pickle right now. Last November, Binance – founded in China, but now based in Malta and by far the biggest company out there at 12 times the trading volume of Crypto.com – pled guilty to money laundering and other charges. Founder and CEO Zhao Changpeng agreed to pay the U.S. over $4 billion in penalties.
Based in the Seychelles, KuCoin has encountered some turbulence trying to enter the U.S market. They agreed last December to stop doing business in New York and pay a $22-million fine, but it appears at first blush to be more about red tape than anything else. KuCoin is another highly-rated exchange with enough volume (No. 29 in the world at $860 million over the past 24 hours) to keep everything humming along.
They managed to stay afloat after that massive security breach in 2016, but things started going sideways for Bitfinex (registered in the British Virgin Islands) with their affiliated Tether stablecoin, eventually leading to a settlement in February 2021 that also saw Bitfinex kicked out of New York. Their latest push has them doing business in Central and South America instead, including El Salvador and Venezuela.
This is the company that the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, founded in 2014. They were one of the many entities that ran afoul of New York Attorney General Letitia James, but as with KuCoin, Gemini is still rated among the best exchanges out there as we go to press. The Winklevosses have yet to face the same kind of charges as FTX, or Binance and Bitfinex for that matter.
That doesn’t mean everything is peaches and cream. The links between Gemini and the Genesis crypto brokerage were concerning enough to force the shutdown of the Gemini Earn “lending program” in January 2023. But the exchange rolls on; they’ve just been approved to open in France, having already established their European hub in Ireland last May.
At press time, you can also bet on eToro (+1000), Robinhood (+1400), Kraken (+1500) and Coinbase (+2500) to hit the bricks by June 1, 2024.
Visit BetOnline to find out more, and may the crypto odds be with you.