The Regulatory Vacuum Just Sucked $4B Out of Binance and Coinbase
TL;DR
The SEC's clamp down on Binance and Coinbase has resulted in $4B being withdrawn from the platforms over the past week.
The good news is, so far both Binance and Coinbase have handled these withdrawals like absolute champs and processed all outflows in an orderly fashion.
Full Story
We feel like we've been saying this a lot of late, but...
We have some good news and some bad news.
The bad news is:
The SEC's clamp down on Binance and Coinbase has resulted in $4B being withdrawn from the platforms over the past week.
The less money is held on these platforms → the less crytpo is traded on them → the less money they make from fees → the more financial stress they're put under.
The reason folks fear seeing these centralized exchanges being put under financial stress is a two parter:
Centralized exchanges play a vital role in the space as on/off ramps. Without centralized exchanges, it becomes waaaay harder to convert your cash into crypto (and vice versa).
FTX. ...specifically: the last time we saw a large centralized exchange put under stress, it collapsed and took everyone's crypto with it.
Which brings us to...
The good news!
So far both Binance and Coinbase have handled these withdrawals like absolute champs and processed all outflows in an orderly fashion.
The silver lining (for Binance and Coinbase):
If both platforms can weather this regulatory storm in the US, that robustness will earn a whole bunch of brand trust once the dust settles.