Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of the largest crypto exchange Binance, made a suggestive post about exchanges to watch out for. Meanwhile, FatMan warned users on Twitter to stay away from KuCoin. KuCoin froze client funds at Terraform Labs’ request, even though the funds were not owned by Terraform Labs.
Inspirational words from Binance CEO CZ!
cryptocoin.com As you follow, Binance released proof of reserve after the FTX crash. It also demanded that other exchanges behave similarly. Jesse Powell, CEO of US-based crypto exchange Kraken, has criticized Binance’s proof of reserve. Changpeng Zhao (CZ) reacted to criticism from Kraken CEO Jesse Powell. CZ said it considers competitors’ objections a ‘healthy check’ and that the business will provide appropriate feedback. Accordingly, Changpeng Zhao shared the following:
Brian A and Jesse P say that even though SBF is American, FTX has an ‘offshore exchange’ problem. I tweeted about Coinbase/Grayscale. Brian replied. Jesse is questioning Binance’s Proof of Reserve today. We will answer. I see these as healthy controls.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced today that it will reduce its staff numbers by 30%. In this environment, Binance CEO CZ continued where he left off and implicitly said beware of the following exchanges:
It is necessary to be careful with these crypto platforms. The first is those who promise high interest earnings. The second is those that come to the fore with layoffs. If you don’t manage risk now, don’t blame others for the consequences.
After this post, one of his followers noticed the hint. As such, he said CZ was targeting Kraken. However, CZ noted that he was not against Kraken, but only shared about risk management principles.
FatMan warns users about KuCoin
Crypto and Finance Researcher FatMan warned users to stay away from KuCoin. KuCoin unilaterally froze client funds at Terraform Labs’ request, even though the funds were not owned by Terraform Labs.
🧵 For ideological reasons, I would recommend staying away from KuCoin.
Recently, KuCoin has unilaterally frozen client funds at the request of TFL. The accounts these funds were in did not belong to TFL.
This sort of behaviour is simply not okay and deserves reprimand.
— FatMan (@FatManTerra) November 30, 2022
However, FatMan claimed that he did not know about KuCoin’s solvency. He said the issue he shared only affected a few customers. Regardless, the crypto researcher noted that he opposes exchanges acting as ‘extortion accessories’ based on a decision by a private party.
Also, FatMan clarified that freezing of client funds should only be done for reasons mandated by law. The crypto researcher also revealed that after privately examining the evidence, KuCoin has frozen customers’ funds as an excuse to blackmail account holders into sending funds to a certain third party.
However, when a user requests proof, FatMan stated that the proof cannot be published. FatMan explained that the evidence was collected from other customers who did not want their names to be made public.
I could as the evidence was shared externally, but the parties involved do not want their names shared due to publicity issues, so I'll respect that
I encourage them to make a public statement about this matter as it's important for everyone to hear
Sorry I can't do better
— FatMan (@FatManTerra) November 30, 2022
Also, FatMan initially detected that KuCoin was responding. However, he stopped responding and did not comment when asked about this topic. Many users shared information about the spike in KuCoin’s APRs while observing the Twitter crypto space. Many users claimed that this is suspicious behavior by KuCoin after their BTC, ETH and USDT APRs exceeded 200 percent. A user named Yikes observed that KuCoin surprisingly maintained during highly volatile conditions, preventing customers from exiting the trade. .
