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FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

theblock.co

111–120 of 141 posts

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#111
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that “should” is working really hard there. We only have to look at the other crypto firms that have gone bust to know this space is rife with problems in that area - lies about FDIC protection, cryptocurrency and tokens considered part of company assets and subject to creditor claims, rather than customer deposits etc. I wouldn’t like to rely on that “should”.

> I wouldn’t like to rely on that “should”. And you don't have to. Best always to hold your own coins yourself if you have that possibility, or use a custodian you trust.

The context of my comment was

“it’s fine, don’t worry about withdrawing and holding your coins yourself, your deposits are safe”

It appears that you actually agree with me that they may not be.

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#112
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admit I did panic and tried to withdraw my funds yesterday. They just processed it today. A bit delayed but still processing.

Nothing wrong with taking a caution first approach. However to me most articles about FTX seem like "panic first, research after". Yes SBF's investment company might be fucked, but customers funds should be totally separate from that.

>Yes SBF's investment company might be fucked, but customers funds should be totally separate from that.

Sure, and Tether "should be" one-to-one backed by US dollars.

In crypto, a lot of the time the "should be", isn't.

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#113
post #37
post #3

4 days ago there was an interesting discussion here about a possible Alameda/FTX bankruptcy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33464494

And I love how you have self-professed specialists that tell you "no this will never happen". Finance is full of over-confident people that don't know enough or have too much at stake.

Most probably some of those people had skin in the game, hence the comments of “everything is five here! Move along!”.

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#114
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing wrong with taking a caution first approach. However to me most articles about FTX seem like "panic first, research after". Yes SBF's investment company might be fucked, but customers funds should be totally separate from that.

I think that “should” is working really hard there. We only have to look at the other crypto firms that have gone bust to know this space is rife with problems in that area - lies about FDIC protection, cryptocurrency and tokens considered part of company assets and subject to creditor claims, rather than customer deposits etc. I wouldn’t like to rely on that “should”.

Ftx is quite profitable: Good fee income with little marketing expense. So it has a large intangible value.

I assume most traders on ftx only put enough capital on the exchange to keep their positions open in the short term.

So the intangible value of ftx may well exceed the value of clients assets by a significant margin. Then ftx may well be able to issue new shares should it experience a liquidity crunch.

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m still trying to decide if stopping withdrawals is smoke, or is the fire.

It is fairly common for exchanges to have (short) pauses in withdrawals. The majority of funds are in a cold storage, and for security reasons it usually takes some time to get the funds out from there "live". If lot of people are withdrawing at once, it would cause minor inconvenience to any exchange. They have to transfer funds from cold storage, and that takes time. It is almost impossible to determine if an excha…

Stopping withdrawals is definitely a fire if cold storage addresses are a mystery.

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#116
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the ATM Cash Machine stops withdrawals because it's out of money it doesn't mean that the bank which owns it is insolvent. Even if you go to a bank branch, large withdrawals ($100k+) need to be announced days in advance, they will not give you the money on the spot.

Let's break this down. If you're FTX, you don't have ATMs. You have a digital teller system that is leveraged against your own liquidity. If you fail to go liquid, one of the first things you'll stop doing is liquidating other people's transactions. This is a problem, because it creates an adversarial relationship between the currency-holders and the exchange managing their funds. Making matters worse, cryptocurrency…

> remind everyone how P2P currency is meant to be distributed

Exchanges arose because pure P2P currency distribution is impractical. Crypto's assumptions about whether, how, and why currency should be decentralized are fundamentally at odds with human behavior.

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#117
post #114
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that “should” is working really hard there. We only have to look at the other crypto firms that have gone bust to know this space is rife with problems in that area - lies about FDIC protection, cryptocurrency and tokens considered part of company assets and subject to creditor claims, rather than customer deposits etc. I wouldn’t like to rely on that “should”.

Ftx is quite profitable: Good fee income with little marketing expense. So it has a large intangible value. I assume most traders on ftx only put enough capital on the exchange to keep their positions open in the short term. So the intangible value of ftx may well exceed the value of clients assets by a significant margin. Then ftx may well be able to issue new shares should it experience a liquidity crunch.

> little marketing expense

Are you sure? I come bearing no data at all, but it seems everything I listen to or watch is sponsored by FTX. Didn't they also go huge during Superbowl? I would think FTX is one of the largest marketing spenders in crypto purely based on optics (which, again, may be completely off).

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#118
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admit I did panic and tried to withdraw my funds yesterday. They just processed it today. A bit delayed but still processing.

Nothing wrong with taking a caution first approach. However to me most articles about FTX seem like "panic first, research after". Yes SBF's investment company might be fucked, but customers funds should be totally separate from that.

> Yes SBF's investment company might be fucked, but customers funds should be totally separate from that.

Crypto isn’t regulated so there is no segregation or protection of customer funds

Also see this: no FDIC insurance, letter from FDIC alleging misrepresentations from FTX: https://twitter.com/ClarityToast/status/1590022331220787201

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#119
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it has been 4 hours now, and the media has been reporting it for an hour, everyone on Twitter and Reddit is talking about it. Yet, no communication from FTX or SBF.

> Yet, no communication from FTX or SBF. this is the biggest issue. if they are having any kind of technical issues they should be on top of it. even if everything is fine by tomorrow and withdrawals are working again, this radio silence is unprofessional and at this point it feels like they are trying to avoid saying anything that will be held up in court against them.

If indeed the issue is that the hot wallet is empty and funds need to be transferred from the cold wallet, they could say so.

Re: FTX Appears to Have Stopped Processing Withdrawals, On-Chain Data Show

#120
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but why wouldn't he want to sell his hundreds of millions of dollars worth of FTT before crashing the price? Isn't that a bit strange?

Ego wars. Sam made a joke about CZ getting arrested on US soil.

Your comments cryptoanon have been so incredibly wrong about FTX/Alameda...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33520624

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