Crypto.com CEO Explains How Exchange Is Different From FTX Amid Push for Reserves Transparency

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek says his exchange operates differently than FTX, the digital asset trading platform that famously imploded last week.

In a new interview, Marszalek says his exchange’s focus on the retail part of the business distinguishes it from Sam Bankman-Fried’s embattled company.

“Essentially there are two business models in the cryptocurrency space, right? One is the brokerage model, where our platform, for example, is a counterparty to the transaction, and every time our users buy or sell crypto, we immediately hedge the other position to have zero market risks, and we take a fee for providing the access to it. This is 95% of our business. That’s also 95% of the business of Coinbase. 

And the other model is taking a fee on an exchange where people trade hundreds of millions of dollars. High-volume traders.”

Marszalek also says mixing up hedge fund businesses and exchanges is a “terrible idea” that should be outlawed.

Following the insolvency of FTX, several crypto exchanges, including Crypto.com, came forward showing their reserves in a bid for transparency.

Even before the most recent crypto crash, Crypto.com had faced headwinds of its own in recent months. In early June, Marszalek said on Twitter that the exchange had plans to lay off 260 people, or about 5% of the company’s workforce.

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