Bybit, Kraken, and Bitget With Growing Trading Volumes (Nansen)

One of the most catastrophic events in the crypto world last year – the demise of FTX – negatively affected the entire industry. It has undermined confidence in centralized exchanges, causing many investors to back away from them and turn to self-custodianship or sell off their stock.

The crash has also prompted some platforms to take additional measures and up their security game. According to data provided by blockchain analytics firm Nansen, exchanges such as Bybit, Kraken, and Bitget have overcome the FTX shock and boosted their trading volumes during the first half of 2023.

FTX Meltdown Winners

Nansen’s in-depth analysis estimated The collapse of FTX in November 2022 changed the landscape of CEX, with many exchanges seeing record outflows and diminishing investor interest towards the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.

Some of the biggest losers seem to be Bitfinex, Kucoin, Gate.io, and OKX. Bitfinex’s average monthly spot trading volume six months before the fallout was more than $12 billion, compared to $5 billion half a year later.

On the other hand, Kraken boosted its spot trading volume by around 14%, while Bybit posted an increase of 7%.

“Most exchanges have taken a hit with their spot trading volumes, with the notable exceptions of Bybit and Kraken managing to increase volume,” the report reads.

Although Binance was initially rumored to have a role in the FTX implosion, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has remained relatively unfazed. Its average monthly spot trading volume has shifted from about $445 billion to nearly $444 billion.

Derivatives trading volume in the sector has seen a slight decline, with a significant spike noted in November last year (by the time of the crash).

The only winner here appears to be Bitget, which averaged $194 billion in this space six months before the disaster, compared to $204 billion in the aftermath of the disaster. Bitfinex and Kucoin were again on the losing side, posting lows of 40% and 41%, respectively.

Upgrade security policies

While sending shock waves through the entire crypto industry, the demise of FTX has caused some exchanges to develop their own investor protection programs.

binance more The Safe Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) is up to $1 billion, assuring that the assets will only be used in the event of an adverse event. Bitget increased its sandbox from $200 million to $300 million. Coinbase, Huobi, and OKX were among others who took similar action.

Several exchanges have also issued Proof of Reserves to show that they have enough funds to support customer deposits, including Binance, Crypto.comAnd Kraken and Bybit and Yes.

According to Nansen, such moves are necessary and should become “the minimum standard in the exchange industry.”