This week, online rumors claimed that the cryptocurrency exchange was experiencing insolvency issues, raising concern among the community. Amid the uncertainty, users have identified Bybit as the exchange with the alleged problems.
On Wednesday, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou refuted rumors of a hack or insolvency on X, reassuring investors that the exchange is operating as usual.
Bybit CEO denies the rumours
On Tuesday, reports of the bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange circulated in private conversations. The rumors raised fear that another FTX-like disaster was looming on the horizon. Reports originally spiked as Arkham Intelligence's Proof of Reserves (PoR) graph suddenly dropped from the $11 billion range to the $6 billion mark.
Bybit's assets drop in Arkham's graph. Source: S0ybo1 on X
One X user quickly pointed out that the news was fake because the Arkham graphic was broken. The user explained that a particular wallet caused an error that did not show more than $4 billion in funds in the chart. However, if they are verified individually, all assets will appear in the wallets.
The community took the incident with good humor, with many lightening the mood with memes and references to FTX's collapse while waiting for clarification. X user subscriber A “copypasta” post from 2022, poking fun at the way rumors spread among the community. Part of the post reads:
Crypto back offices are worse than teenage girls when it comes to gossip and I don't want to be collateral damage in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Other users urged the community to properly research news “before posting FUD,” and suggested other platforms to check Bybit’s POR and related information.
On May 23, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said I confess Concerns He explained that the cryptocurrency exchange had not been hacked, as some seemed to suggest, nor was it insolvent. Zhou shared the exchange's POR snapshot as of May 8 and linked to Nansen's dashboard.
Bybit's net worth sits at $11 billion. Source: Nansen
The dashboard displayed the exchange's assets of $11 billion. One chart reveals that the value of the cryptocurrency exchange's assets remained above $10 billion this week, confirming that Bybit's reserves have not declined.
At the time of writing, it appears that Arkham's graphics have been fixed. The platform's POR chart for Bybit coincides with that of Nansen's $11 billion valuation.
Crackdown on crypto regulators on Bybit
The latest FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) comes amid regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges. Last week, French authorities criticized Bybit for operating without a license in France.
The Financial Markets Authority (AMF) issued a reminder that the exchange has been blacklisted in the country since 2022. Furthermore, the AMF stated its right to block the website of the cryptocurrency platform and advised users to protect their assets before they become inaccessible. .
Likewise, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) classified Bybit as a “suspicious” platform in March. As Bitcoinist reported, the SFC warning was part of the regulator's efforts to crack down on unregistered platforms in Hong Kong.
The financial regulator listed 11 products offered by the cryptocurrency exchange as “suspicious” and clarified that Bybit was an unlicensed platform. The SFC has warned users of the “risks” of investing in an unregulated platform.
Total crypto market capitalization is at $2.54 trillion in the weekly chart. Source: TOTAL on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com