Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek has addressed a huge transfer of Ethereum (ETH) from the exchange’s wallet that was noticed by on-chain sleuths.
According to Etherscan data, about 285,000 ETH worth over $347 million was sent from Crypto.com’s wallet address to Gate.io, another crypto exchange, before being sent back.
Marszalek says that the transfer was a mistake, and the ETH trove was meant to be sent to a cold storage wallet but ended up at Gate.io.
“It was supposed to be a move to a new cold storage address, but was sent to a whitelisted external exchange address. We worked with Gate team and the funds were subsequently returned to our cold storage. New process and features were implemented to prevent this from reoccurring.”
According to the Etherscan data, the return of the ETH stash from Gate.io happened days before Crypto.com’s reveal of its reserves. Following the insolvency of FTX, several crypto exchanges, including Crypto.com, came forward showing their reserves in a bid for transparency.
Last week, Marszalek revealed part of Crypto.com’s reserves.
Said Marszalek
“While the proof of reserves audit preparation is underway, we are sharing our cold wallet addresses for some of the top assets on our platform. This represents only a portion of our reserves: about 53,024 BTC, 391,564 ETH, and combined with other assets for a total of $3 billion.
Please expect a full audited proof of reserves from us in the next couple of weeks, confirming the full 1:1 reserve of all customer assets. You can expect Crypto.com to continue working in [the] spirit of full transparency and remain the steady hand and a safe, secure platform.”
On the same day that Crypto.com’s large Ethereum transfers came to light, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted out that exchanges moving around crypto near the time they revealed their wallet addresses was a red flag.
At time of writing, CRO, a utility token designed by Crypto.com, has plunged over 45% in the last seven days and is 93% down from its all-time high.
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