2024 has recorded unprecedented losses in the cybersecurity landscape. By Q3, losses reached $2.11 billion, surpassing the losses reported for 2023.

Cybersecurity Losses Surge to $2.1 Billion in 2024: WazirX Seeks Court Protection

E-Nugget Case: ED has seized funds worth INR 90 Cr kept in Binance, <strong>WazirX</strong> And ZebPay wallets in connection with a money laundering case involving online gaming app E-nugget.

E-Nugget Case: ED Seizes Funds Worth INR 90 Cr Kept In Binance, WazirX And ZebPay Wallets

Here is a carefully evaluated and ranked list of the top 8 Indian cryptocurrency exchanges/apps based on service, security, fees, and more criteria.

8 Crypto Exchanges App in India 2023-2024

Bitcoin price stood at $28,144.61 on Monday. ( Image Source : fabrikasimf/Freepik ) Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s olde

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WazirX

wazirx

In the chaotic aftermath of WazirX’s $230 million hack, the proposed "Withdrawal Management Programme" feels more like a desperate bid to save the ship than a lifeboat for its users. As a passionate advocate for blockchain and community-first approaches, I must voice my concern: this isn’t the way to treat your users, WazirX. According to WazirX’s ‘Withdrawal Management Programme’, it’s asking customers to absorb a staggering 45% of the losses through a socialized loss model, which can be best described as throwing its users under the bus while the company shields its reserves. WazirX's Plan Detailed Post-hack, WazirX presented its "Withdrawal Management Programme," designed as a bifurcated approach to managing the crisis. The options laid out in their opinion poll are framed to cushion the company first, leaving users out in the cold. Here’s a breakdown for you. Option A - Users who choose this cannot withdraw funds but are promised priority in the asset recovery process. They are allowed to trade and hold assets on the platform.
Option B - This option allows for trading and withdrawal of assets but places users at a lower recovery priority. Either way, to stabilize the recovery efforts, 45% of all user crypto holdings will be converted into USDT-equivalent tokens and locked, distributing the financial impact across all users. According to them, this initiative aims to create a reserve fund to manage liquidity and facilitate recovery without a complete operational halt. Here’s why I feel it sucks. Key Issues with the Plan Snapshot Timing: The snapshot should have been taken on or before July 18, 2024, to prevent further discrepancies. Not July 21 when the trading was halted.
Unfair Penalties: Users with non-stolen tokens should not be penalized to compensate for stolen tokens.
Tax and TDS Issues: Users should not bear the additional tax burden on top of their losses. India has a flat 1% TDS and 30% Capital Gains Tax.
Financial Transparency: WazirX should disclose its financials, including profit, loss, and balance sheet, to justify compensation.
Leadership Accountability: The WazirX team should also take a financial hit instead of placing the entire burden on users. What WazirX Could Have Done Other exchanges like Bitfinex and Coincheck have faced similar losses but chose paths that prioritized their communities. Bitfinex issued BFX tokens and allowed users to convert these into company equity, effectively making them partners in recovery. Coincheck used its own funds to reimburse the 260,000 affected users. In both cases, these responses helped maintain user trust and stabilize the exchange. Reflecting on the proactive measures taken by other exchanges in similar crises could have guided WazirX to more community-favorable decisions. Immediate Financial Contribution: Instead of imposing a 45% loss on users, WazirX could have utilized its own reserves first, showing a commitment to its user base.
Use of Foundation Funds: The WRX foundation holds a significant amount of WRX tokens, part of which could have been liquidated to cover some of the losses.
Fair Loss Distribution: Applying a loss distribution only to those affected by the hack rather than a blanket approach across all users would have been more equitable.
Clear Financial Disclosure: Releasing detailed financial statements could help build trust and transparency, showing the users where the platform stands financially.
Leveraging Altcoin Listing Fees: Funds accumulated from altcoin listings could serve as an additional buffer to assist in compensating affected users.
Leadership Accountability: The leadership team could take a visible pay cut or similar financial hit to show solidarity with their user community. The Bottom Line What WazirX is doing is a tale of misplaced priorities. For a platform that has carried the banner of the crypto revolution in India, it’s a sad pivot to see its potential insolvency and irrelevance. For a community that thrives on trust and transparency, WazirX’s approach feels less like a strategy and more like a tragedy. By prioritizing its financial preservation over equitable treatment of its users, WazirX not only risks its reputation but also its operational future. A more balanced, transparent, and user-focused approach, demonstrating genuine leadership commitment to financial restitution, would likely bring greater trust and loyalty from the crypto community, ultimately keeping the platform's resilience and sustainability alive. In the chaotic aftermath of WazirX’s $230 million hack, the proposed "Withdrawal Management Programme" feels more like a desperate bid to save the ship than a lifeboat for its users. As a passionate advocate for blockchain and community-first approaches, I must voice my concern: this isn’t the way to treat your users, WazirX. According to WazirX’s ‘Withdrawal Management Programme’, it’s asking customers to absorb a staggering 45% of the losses through a socialized loss model, which can be best described as throwing its users under the bus while the company shields its reserves. WazirX's Plan Detailed Post-hack, WazirX presented its "Withdrawal Management Programme," designed as a bifurcated approach to managing the crisis. The options laid out in their opinion poll are framed to cushion the company first, leaving users out in the cold. Here’s a breakdown for you. Option A - Users who choose this cannot withdraw funds but are promised priority in the asset recovery process. They are allowed to trade and hold assets on the platform. Option B - This option allows for trading and withdrawal of assets but places users at a lower recovery priority. Option A - Users who choose this cannot withdraw funds but are promised priority in the asset recovery process. They are allowed to trade and hold assets on the platform. Option A Option B - This option allows for trading and withdrawal of assets but places users at a lower recovery priority. Option B Either way, to stabilize the recovery efforts, 45% of all user crypto holdings will be converted into USDT-equivalent tokens and locked, distributing the financial impact across all users. According to them, this initiative aims to create a reserve fund to manage liquidity and facilitate recovery without a complete operational halt. Here’s why I feel it sucks. Key Issues with the Plan Snapshot Timing: The snapshot should have been taken on or before July 18, 2024, to prevent further discrepancies. Not July 21 when the trading was halted. Unfair Penalties: Users with non-stolen tokens should not be penalized to compensate for stolen tokens. Tax and TDS Issues: Users should not bear the additional tax burden on top of their losses. India has a flat 1% TDS and 30% Capital Gains Tax. Financial Transparency: WazirX should disclose its financials, including profit, loss, and balance sheet, to justify compensation. Leadership Accountability: The WazirX team should also take a financial hit instead of placing the entire burden on users. Snapshot Timing : The snapshot should have been taken on or before July 18, 2024, to prevent further discrepancies. Not July 21 when the trading was halted. Snapshot Timing Unfair Penalties : Users with non-stolen tokens should not be penalized to compensate for stolen tokens. Unfair Penalties Tax and TDS Issues : Users should not bear the additional tax burden on top of their losses. India has a flat 1% TDS and 30% Capital Gains Tax. Tax and TDS Issues Financial Transparency : WazirX should disclose its financials, including profit, loss, and balance sheet, to justify compensation. Financial Transparency Leadership Accountability : The WazirX team should also take a financial hit instead of placing the entire burden on users. Leadership Accountability What WazirX Could Have Done Other exchanges like Bitfinex and Coincheck have faced similar losses but chose paths that prioritized their communities. Bitfinex issued BFX tokens and allowed users to convert these into company equity, effectively making them partners in recovery. Coincheck used its own funds to reimburse the 260,000 affected users. In both cases, these responses helped maintain user trust and stabilize the exchange. Reflecting on the proactive measures taken by other exchanges in similar crises could have guided WazirX to more community-favorable decisions. Immediate Financial Contribution: Instead of imposing a 45% loss on users, WazirX could have utilized its own reserves first, showing a commitment to its user base. Use of Foundation Funds: The WRX foundation holds a significant amount of WRX tokens, part of which could have been liquidated to cover some of the losses. Fair Loss Distribution: Applying a loss distribution only to those affected by the hack rather than a blanket approach across all users would have been more equitable. Clear Financial Disclosure: Releasing detailed financial statements could help build trust and transparency, showing the users where the platform stands financially. Leveraging Altcoin Listing Fees: Funds accumulated from altcoin listings could serve as an additional buffer to assist in compensating affected users. Leadership Accountability: The leadership team could take a visible pay cut or similar financial hit to show solidarity with their user community. Immediate Financial Contribution : Instead of imposing a 45% loss on users, WazirX could have utilized its own reserves first, showing a commitment to its user base. Immediate Financial Contribution Use of Foundation Funds : The WRX foundation holds a significant amount of WRX tokens, part of which could have been liquidated to cover some of the losses. Use of Foundation Funds Fair Loss Distribution : Applying a loss distribution only to those affected by the hack rather than a blanket approach across all users would have been more equitable. Fair Loss Distribution Clear Financial Disclosure : Releasing detailed financial statements could help build trust and transparency, showing the users where the platform stands financially. Clear Financial Disclosure Leveraging Altcoin Listing Fees : Funds accumulated from altcoin listings could serve as an additional buffer to assist in compensating affected users. Leveraging Altcoin Listing Fees Leadership Accountability : The leadership team could take a visible pay cut or similar financial hit to show solidarity with their user community. Leadership Accountability The Bottom Line What WazirX is doing is a tale of misplaced priorities. For a platform that has carried the banner of the crypto revolution in India, it’s a sad pivot to see its potential insolvency and irrelevance. For a community that thrives on trust and transparency, WazirX’s approach feels less like a strategy and more like a tragedy. By prioritizing its financial preservation over equitable treatment of its users, WazirX not only risks its reputation but also its operational future. A more balanced, transparent, and user-focused approach, demonstrating genuine leadership commitment to financial restitution, would likely bring greater trust and loyalty from the crypto community, ultimately keeping the platform's resilience and sustainability alive.

$230M Vanishes, so Does Trust: WazirX’s Masterclass in Mismanagement

**GLOBAL, Global, July 4th, 2024/Chainwire/--**Venom Foundation is pleased to announce a major milestone in its global expansion strategy: the listing of its native token, $VENOM, on two of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, WazirX and CoinDCX. This pivotal move grants Venom access to a massive user base in the world’s most populous country, further driving the adoption and visibility of $VENOM. "We are thrilled to announce the listing of $VENOM on WazirX and CoinDCX. This strategic move into the Indian market, with access to over 30 million users, marks a significant milestone for Venom. It underscores our commitment to fostering innovation and adoption in the blockchain space, paving the way for greater engagement and growth in one of the world's most dynamic crypto markets." - Louis Tsu, CEO of Venom FoundationRajagopal Menon, VP of Marketing at WazirX, said, "VENOM network has already checked several boxes such as addressing scalability and transaction issues in the crypto ecosystem. It has a diverse range of partnerships and its ongoing expansion showcases its popularity and burgeoning user base. WazirX is excited to give users the opportunity to trade this token.” India: A Key Market for Venom As the global cryptocurrency landscape evolves, India has emerged as a vital hub for blockchain and crypto. With its tech-savvy population and rapidly growing crypto community, India represents a monumental opportunity for Venom to expand its reach and drive adoption. Listings on WazirX and CoinDCX WazirX: As India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX serves over 16 million users. $VENOM is now available for trading in USDT and INR pairs. CoinDCX: CoinDCX, another major player in the Indian market, boasts over 14 million users. $VENOM is also available for trading in USDT and INR pairs. Key Highlights Vast User Reach: The combined user base of over 30 million on WazirX and CoinDCX offers unparalleled exposure for $VENOM in India. Market Expansion: These listings mark a crucial milestone in Venom’s expansion strategy, highlighting the explosive growth and adoption of $VENOM in one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto markets. Enhanced Accessibility: Indian users now have streamlined access to trade $VENOM in their local currency, fostering greater adoption and engagement. Conclusion The listings of $VENOM on WazirX and CoinDCX are pivotal steps in Venom’s strategy to enhance its global reach and liquidity. These listings align with the Venom Foundation goal of increasing adoption and expanding it's presence in the global crypto landscape. About Venom Venom is a cutting-edge layer-0 and layer-1 network, seamlessly integrating with other independent networks through innovative Mesh technology. Anchored by a masterchain for overall state and consensus management, Venom supports unlimited autonomous workchains for user accounts, smart contracts, and dApps. Mesh technology optimizes inter-chain communication, ensuring speed and scalability. With rapid finality, comprehensive security, stability, and user-friendly interfaces, Venom is ideal for hosting CBDCs and large-scale platforms. Learn more at https://venom.foundation/ Contact Venom Foundation media@venom.network This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. **GLOBAL, Global, July 4th, 2024/Chainwire/--**Venom Foundation is pleased to announce a major milestone in its global expansion strategy: the listing of its native token, $VENOM, on two of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, WazirX and CoinDCX. This pivotal move grants Venom access to a massive user base in the world’s most populous country, further driving the adoption and visibility of $VENOM. "We are thrilled to announce the listing of $VENOM on WazirX and CoinDCX. This strategic move into the Indian market, with access to over 30 million users, marks a significant milestone for Venom. It underscores our commitment to fostering innovation and adoption in the blockchain space, paving the way for greater engagement and growth in one of the world's most dynamic crypto markets." - "We are thrilled to announce the listing of $VENOM on WazirX and CoinDCX. This strategic move into the Indian market, with access to over 30 million users, marks a significant milestone for Venom. It underscores our commitment to fostering innovation and adoption in the blockchain space, paving the way for greater engagement and growth in one of the world's most dynamic crypto markets." - Louis Tsu, CEO of Venom FoundationRajagopal Menon, VP of Marketing at WazirX, said, "VENOM network has already checked several boxes such as addressing scalability and transaction issues in the crypto ecosystem. It has a diverse range of partnerships and its ongoing expansion showcases its popularity and burgeoning user base. WazirX is excited to give users the opportunity to trade this token.” Louis Tsu, CEO of Venom FoundationRajagopal Menon, VP of Marketing at WazirX, said, "VENOM network has already checked several boxes such as addressing scalability and transaction issues in the crypto ecosystem. It has a diverse range of partnerships and its ongoing expansion showcases its popularity and burgeoning user base. WazirX is excited to give users the opportunity to trade this token.” India: A Key Market for Venom As the global cryptocurrency landscape evolves, India has emerged as a vital hub for blockchain and crypto. With its tech-savvy population and rapidly growing crypto community, India represents a monumental opportunity for Venom to expand its reach and drive adoption. Listings on WazirX and CoinDCX WazirX : As India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX serves over 16 million users. $VENOM is now available for trading in USDT and INR pairs. WazirX WazirX CoinDCX : CoinDCX, another major player in the Indian market, boasts over 14 million users. $VENOM is also available for trading in USDT and INR pairs. CoinDCX CoinDCX Key Highlights Vast User Reach: The combined user base of over 30 million on WazirX and CoinDCX offers unparalleled exposure for $VENOM in India. Market Expansion: These listings mark a crucial milestone in Venom’s expansion strategy, highlighting the explosive growth and adoption of $VENOM in one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto markets. Enhanced Accessibility: Indian users now have streamlined access to trade $VENOM in their local currency, fostering greater adoption and engagement. Conclusion The listings of $VENOM on WazirX and CoinDCX are pivotal steps in Venom’s strategy to enhance its global reach and liquidity. These listings align with the Venom Foundation goal of increasing adoption and expanding it's presence in the global crypto landscape. About Venom Venom is a cutting-edge layer-0 and layer-1 network, seamlessly integrating with other independent networks through innovative Mesh technology. Anchored by a masterchain for overall state and consensus management, Venom supports unlimited autonomous workchains for user accounts, smart contracts, and dApps. Venom Venom Mesh technology optimizes inter-chain communication, ensuring speed and scalability. With rapid finality, comprehensive security, stability, and user-friendly interfaces, Venom is ideal for hosting CBDCs and large-scale platforms. Learn more at https://venom.foundation/ https://venom.foundation/ https://venom.foundation/ Contact Venom Foundation media@venom.network This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here. This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here . here here

Venom Expands Into India With Dual Listings On WazirX And CoinDCX

This July, India was the center of crypto media attention. This is due to two reasons: the WazirX $230 million hack and new movements in the local crypto regulation landscape. But the basic thesis of why India is important for the global crypto landscape is much simpler. With more than 1.4 billion citizens, India is the country with the biggest population, where crypto regulation and rules for VASPs already exist. There are different numbers describing the number of crypto users in India. KuCoin estimates the number of crypto users in the country at 115 million in 2022 and Tripple A at 97.5 million. Unlike China, India has crypto regulations, which makes crypto exchange legal in the country. Announced upgrades of local regulations may influence the global crypto industry. WazirX hack Unauthorized criminals hacked the multisig wallet belonging to the biggest local exchange, WazirX, on July 18th. The stolen $230 million amounted to approximately 45% of WazirX's reserves. $100 million of it was in Shiba Inu, and $52 mln was in Ethereum. Short notice about the hack was published in the company’s blog. This demonstrates a lack of security in WazirX's tech infrastructure or its crypto custody provider, Liminal. Both sides were quick to blame each other, which seems strange, considering WazirX is the most well-known crypto exchange in India. This occasion also proves that local crypto regulations need to be developed. For instance, in South Korea, such a hack will be impossible - based on local legislation crypto exchanges should store their funds not multisig, but cold wallets. As for the hack itself, it has been linked to hackers from North Korea, according to Elliptic’s investigation. Regulation Updates Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) proposed an initiative to reduce TDS tax from 1% to 0,01%. Despite that this month the Indian government has remained TDS unchanged. This came to light after the publication of the budget with the new composition of the Narendra Modi government. Also this month Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth announced new crypto regulation guidelines.  Based on his speech cryptocurrencies in India are “regulated from the perspective of AML alone”. The secretary claims that “it cannot be beyond that” and the new “policy stance will come out in the discussion paper”. According to his assumption the final document will be published in September. Co-founder of another local crypto exchange CoinDCX Sumit Gupta has appreciated this initiative and сalled the government to work together on the topic. Current Regulation Approach According to local AML/CFT rules crypto entities need to register as Virtual Digital Asset Providers (VDA). Based on press release issued by Finance Ministry 28 entities were registered as VDA providers in the end of 2023 by the local Financial Intelligence Unit. These companies include Binance, Coin DCX, WazirX (Zanmai Labs), Coinswitch and Zebpay. Also the country has taxation procedures for crypto gains - CGT tax (30%) and TDS (1%) for every transaction regardless of its economic profit (or loss). If we talk about the other regulators, the RBI (Indian Central Bank) has probably the most damaging approach towards crypto and marks them as a threat to financial stability. At the same time, the SEBI (local SEC) is also implementing a number of initiatives to legalize crypto trading in the country. What can change? It looks like current issues of crypto regulations in India such as high taxation and WazirX hack, may be compared to the state of crypto regulations in Japan and South Korea several years ago. These countries also had a series of hacks that forced regulators to tighten their approach to funds storage. Also, Japan had a high taxation for crypto entities and individuals, but now it's changing its regulation approach. As I think development of crypto regulations in India may go by the same scenario like in Japan in the field of taxation and customer security. Although India has regulations for crypto exchange, it doesn't have clear regulations for some other type of VASPs including investment activity and crypto derivatives (such as ETFs). May be next year operations with crypto for investment companies will be included in the new crypto regulation framework. This is quite possible based on the current SEBI's approach. Also, no crypto cards are currently issued in India. Based on the RBI's current position, crypto cards may be referred as a threat to financial stability, because they allow crypto payments. It's different in the US and European Union. Crypto card issuers can operate there, and this market is transparent for regulators, business, and customers. Legalizing crypto cards and ETFs in India may take more time than next year. However, in the medium term (next year), the country will likely adopt proper guidelines and licensing procedures for exchanges, custodians, and crypto funds. Conclusion India is now almost as big in crypto as China and one of the fastest growing economies on the planet. So, we will continue to watch closely how the rules for crypto business are changing there. Despite the existing challenges, this jurisdiction has great potential. If you are interested in getting more crypto regulation insights, you can watch the global crypto regulation ratinghere and get updates on my Telegram channel. This July, India was the center of crypto media attention. This is due to two reasons: the WazirX $230 million hack and new movements in the local crypto regulation landscape. But the basic thesis of why India is important for the global crypto landscape is much simpler. With more than 1.4 billion citizens, India is the country with the biggest population, where crypto regulation and rules for VASPs already exist. There are different numbers describing the number of crypto users in India. KuCoin estimates the number of crypto users in the country at 115 million in 2022 and Tripple A at 97.5 million. Unlike China, India has crypto regulations, which makes crypto exchange legal in the country. Announced upgrades of local regulations may influence the global crypto industry. WazirX hack WazirX hack Unauthorized criminals hacked the multisig wallet belonging to the biggest local exchange, WazirX, on July 18th. The stolen $230 million amounted to approximately 45% of WazirX's reserves. $100 million of it was in Shiba Inu, and $52 mln was in Ethereum. Short notice about the hack was published in the company’s blog . company’s blog company’s blog This demonstrates a lack of security in WazirX's tech infrastructure or its crypto custody provider, Liminal. Both sides were quick to blame each other, which seems strange, considering WazirX is the most well-known crypto exchange in India. This occasion also proves that local crypto regulations need to be developed. For instance, in South Korea, such a hack will be impossible - based on local legislation crypto exchanges should store their funds not multisig, but cold wallets. As for the hack itself, it has been linked to hackers from North Korea, according to Elliptic’s investigation . Elliptic’s investigation Elliptic’s investigation Regulation Updates Regulation Updates Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) proposed an initiative to reduce TDS tax from 1% to 0,01%. Despite that this month the Indian government has remained TDS unchanged. This came to light after the publication of the budget with the new composition of the Narendra Modi government. remained remained Also this month Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth announced new crypto regulation guidelines.  Based on his speech cryptocurrencies in India are “regulated from the perspective of AML alone”. The secretary claims that “it cannot be beyond that” and the new “policy stance will come out in the discussion paper”. According to his assumption the final document will be published in September. Co-founder of another local crypto exchange CoinDCX Sumit Gupta has appreciated this initiative and сalled the government to work together on the topic. announced Current Regulation Approach Current Regulation Approach According to local AML/CFT rules crypto entities need to register as Virtual Digital Asset Providers (VDA). Based on press release issued by Finance Ministry 28 entities were registered as VDA providers in the end of 2023 by the local Financial Intelligence Unit. These companies include Binance, Coin DCX, WazirX (Zanmai Labs), Coinswitch and Zebpay. registered Also the country has taxation procedures for crypto gains - CGT tax (30%) and TDS (1%) for every transaction regardless of its economic profit (or loss). If we talk about the other regulators, the RBI (Indian Central Bank) has probably the most damaging approach towards crypto and marks them as a threat to financial stability. At the same time, the SEBI (local SEC) is also implementing a number of initiatives to legalize crypto trading in the country. What can change? What can change? It looks like current issues of crypto regulations in India such as high taxation and WazirX hack, may be compared to the state of crypto regulations in Japan and South Korea several years ago. These countries also had a series of hacks that forced regulators to tighten their approach to funds storage. Also, Japan had a high taxation for crypto entities and individuals, but now it's changing its regulation approach. As I think development of crypto regulations in India may go by the same scenario like in Japan in the field of taxation and customer security. Although India has regulations for crypto exchange, it doesn't have clear regulations for some other type of VASPs including investment activity and crypto derivatives (such as ETFs). May be next year operations with crypto for investment companies will be included in the new crypto regulation framework. This is quite possible based on the current SEBI's approach. Also, no crypto cards are currently issued in India. Based on the RBI's current position, crypto cards may be referred as a threat to financial stability, because they allow crypto payments. It's different in the US and European Union. Crypto card issuers can operate there, and this market is transparent for regulators, business, and customers. Legalizing crypto cards and ETFs in India may take more time than next year. However, in the medium term (next year), the country will likely adopt proper guidelines and licensing procedures for exchanges, custodians, and crypto funds. Conclusion India is now almost as big in crypto as China and one of the fastest growing economies on the planet. So, we will continue to watch closely how the rules for crypto business are changing there. Despite the existing challenges, this jurisdiction has great potential. If you are interested in getting more crypto regulation insights, you can watch the global crypto regulation rating here and get updates on my Telegram channel . here Telegram channel

India: the Biggest Crypto Market Enables New Regulations Soon

ভারত: সবচেয়ে বড় ক্রিপ্টো বাজার শীঘ্রই নতুন নিয়ম চালু করে

Indien: Der größte Kryptomarkt ermöglicht bald neue Vorschriften

India: el mercado criptográfico más grande permitirá nuevas regulaciones pronto

Inde : le plus grand marché de la cryptographie permettra bientôt de nouvelles réglementations

भारत: सबसे बड़ा क्रिप्टो बाज़ार जल्द ही नए नियम लागू करेगा

インド：最大の暗号通貨市場がまもなく新たな規制を導入

인도: 가장 큰 암호화폐 시장이 곧 새로운 규제를 가능하게 합니다

Índia: o maior mercado cripto permite novas regulamentações em breve

Индия: крупнейший рынок криптовалют скоро введет новые правила

Hindistan: En Büyük Kripto Piyasası Yakında Yeni Düzenlemelere İzin Verecek

Ấn Độ: Thị trường tiền điện tử lớn nhất sẽ sớm cho phép các quy định mới

印度：最大的加密货币市场即将实施新法规

Top 10 Crypto Wallet Applications & Hardware Wallets

OpenAI may be one of the most talked about companies in the world, but the generative AI startup itself is quite mum on how it does things. A new report this past week sheds some light on why that may be: restrictive non-disclosure agreements. Apparently, OpenAI makes its employees enter agreements that could penalize them if they raise concerns about the company to federal authorities. And concerns there are to be had. While going down this rabbit hole, I discovered that just last month, a group of predominantly former OpenAI employees issued an open letter highlighting how difficult it was to raise the alarm on the development of safe artificial intelligence. The group, which also included a handful of former Google DeepMind and Anthropic employees, said that frontier AI companies had a strong financial incentive to avoid effective oversight and could not be relied upon to share nonpublic information about the capabilities and limitations of their systems with governments or civil societies. The letter went on to say that only current and former employees could hold such companies accountable to the public, especially given that "many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated." So what prompted the former OpenAI employees to draft such a letter, and exactly what it is that the Microsoft-backed company is hiding? Most of the concerns of these former employees seem to do with the supposed risk of artificial intelligence. These risks include "the further entrenchment of existing inequalities, to manipulation and misinformation, to the loss of control of autonomous AI systems potentially resulting in human extinction," per the letter. One would think that this was just a bunch of people spouting conspiracy theories, but all of these risks have been acknowledged by companies OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google themselves, and even some governments, including the US. Kinda makes you wonder whether the software engineer who was fired by Google just a few years ago for claiming the company's AI chatbot was self-aware was onto something. Anyway, Vox reported in May that OpenAI's employment agreement had clauses specifically requiring workers to never say anything critical about the startup or they would lose all the vested equity they earned during their tenure at the company. After the report, Sam Altman publicly tweeted that he was not aware of such a clause and promised to change his company's offboarding documents. But then, Vox made a follow-up report raising doubts about Altman's claim. But all that besides, what may have slipped from peoples' radars are a series of tweets by OpenAI's former safety leader Jan Leike at the time he left the company. Back in May, Leike announced he had left the company over disagreements with the company over its core priorities. "Building smarter-than-human machines is an inherently dangerous endeavor. OpenAI is shouldering an enormous responsibility on behalf of all of humanity. But over the past years, safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products," Leike tweeted. Essentially, we have a group of OpenAI employees who think something is not right with the way the company is developing AI and are highlighting pressure tactics and legal threats by the startup to prevent them from talking about it. Some of the safety issues at OpenAI were recently corroborated by The Washington Post, which reported that the company's safety team was pressured into putting GPT-4 Omni out the gate even though it might not have been ready to do so. It is in this backdrop that Reuters now reports that OpenAI whistleblowers want the US Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the company's restrictive non-disclosure agreements. The whistleblowers' complaint has the backing of at least one US lawmaker. Meanwhile, OpenAI is rushing to build an even more advanced AI that can deliver advanced reasoning capabilities under a tightly-knit project code-named Strawberry. Based on everything we know of Strawberry, it sounds pretty close to what you would expect of an artificial general intelligence, including the ability to navigate the internet and perform deep research. By all accounts, it would seem that OpenAI is prioritizing speed over safety, and if Strawberry truly is as great as media reports claim, we are in for a tough ride. In Other News.. 📰 WazirX Hacked for $230M, Largely in SHIB, as Elliptic Says North Korea Behind Attack — via CoinDesk
TTT models might be the next frontier in generative AI — via TechCrunch
Amazon Prime Day ‘major cause of injuries’ for workers, Senate finds — via CNN
Samsung agrees to acquire British startup Oxford Semantic for AI — via Reuters
TMeta won't offer future multimodal AI models in EU — via Axios
Bye-bye bitcoin, hello AI: Texas miners leave crypto for next new wave — via CNBC And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. Tech, What the Heck!? is a once-weekly newsletter written by HackerNoon editors that combine HackerNoon's proprietary data with news-worthy tech stories from around the internet. Humorous and insightful, the newsletter recaps trending events that are shaping the world of tech. Subscribe here. OpenAI may be one of the most talked about companies in the world, but the generative AI startup itself is quite mum on how it does things. A new report this past week sheds some light on why that may be: restrictive non-disclosure agreements. OpenAI OpenAI Apparently, OpenAI makes its employees enter agreements that could penalize them if they raise concerns about the company to federal authorities. And concerns there are to be had. While going down this rabbit hole, I discovered that just last month, a group of predominantly former OpenAI employees issued an open letter highlighting how difficult it was to raise the alarm on the development of safe artificial intelligence. open letter open letter The group, which also included a handful of former Google DeepMind and Anthropic employees, said that frontier AI companies had a strong financial incentive to avoid effective oversight and could not be relied upon to share nonpublic information about the capabilities and limitations of their systems with governments or civil societies. Google Google The letter went on to say that only current and former employees could hold such companies accountable to the public, especially given that "many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated." So what prompted the former OpenAI employees to draft such a letter, and exactly what it is that the Microsoft -backed company is hiding? Microsoft Microsoft Most of the concerns of these former employees seem to do with the supposed risk of artificial intelligence. These risks include "the further entrenchment of existing inequalities, to manipulation and misinformation, to the loss of control of autonomous AI systems potentially resulting in human extinction," per the letter. One would think that this was just a bunch of people spouting conspiracy theories, but all of these risks have been acknowledged by companies OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google themselves, and even some governments, including the US . including the US including the US Kinda makes you wonder whether the software engineer who was fired by Google just a few years ago for claiming the company's AI chatbot was self-aware was onto something. fired fired Anyway, Vox reported in May that OpenAI's employment agreement had clauses specifically requiring workers to never say anything critical about the startup or they would lose all the vested equity they earned during their tenure at the company. May May lose lose After the report, Sam Altman publicly tweeted that he was not aware of such a clause and promised to change his company's offboarding documents. But then, Vox made a follow-up report raising doubts about Altman's claim . Sam Altman Sam Altman publicly tweeted publicly tweeted follow-up follow-up Altman's claim Altman's claim But all that besides, what may have slipped from peoples' radars are a series of tweets by OpenAI's former safety leader Jan Leike at the time he left the company. series of tweets series of tweets Back in May, Leike announced he had left the company over disagreements with the company over its core priorities. "Building smarter-than-human machines is an inherently dangerous endeavor. OpenAI is shouldering an enormous responsibility on behalf of all of humanity. But over the past years, safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products," Leike tweeted. Essentially, we have a group of OpenAI employees who think something is not right with the way the company is developing AI and are highlighting pressure tactics and legal threats by the startup to prevent them from talking about it. something is not right something is not right developing AI developing AI Some of the safety issues at OpenAI were recently corroborated by The Washington Post, which reported that the company's safety team was pressured into putting GPT-4 Omni out the gate even though it might not have been ready to do so. corroborated corroborated It is in this backdrop that Reuters now reports that OpenAI whistleblowers want the US Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the company's restrictive non-disclosure agreements. The whistleblowers' complaint has the backing of at least one US lawmaker. reports reports Meanwhile, OpenAI is rushing to build an even more advanced AI that can deliver advanced reasoning capabilities under a tightly-knit project code-named Strawberry. Based on everything we know of Strawberry, it sounds pretty close to what you would expect of an artificial general intelligence, including the ability to navigate the internet and perform deep research. rushing rushing even more advanced AI even more advanced AI pretty By all accounts, it would seem that OpenAI is prioritizing speed over safety, and if Strawberry truly is as great as media reports claim, we are in for a tough ride . we are in for a tough ride we are in for a tough ride In Other News.. 📰 In Other News.. 📰 WazirX Hacked for $230M, Largely in SHIB, as Elliptic Says North Korea Behind Attack — via CoinDesk TTT models might be the next frontier in generative AI — via TechCrunch Amazon Prime Day ‘major cause of injuries’ for workers, Senate finds — via CNN Samsung agrees to acquire British startup Oxford Semantic for AI — via Reuters TMeta won't offer future multimodal AI models in EU — via Axios Bye-bye bitcoin, hello AI: Texas miners leave crypto for next new wave — via CNBC WazirX Hacked for $230M, Largely in SHIB, as Elliptic Says North Korea Behind Attack — via CoinDesk CoinDesk CoinDesk TTT models might be the next frontier in generative AI — via TechCrunch TechCrunch TechCrunch Amazon Prime Day ‘major cause of injuries’ for workers, Senate finds — via CNN CNN CNN Samsung agrees to acquire British startup Oxford Semantic for AI — via Reuters Reuters Reuters TMeta won't offer future multimodal AI models in EU — via Axios Axios Axios Bye-bye bitcoin, hello AI: Texas miners leave crypto for next new wave — via CNBC CNBC CNBC And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan , Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon Sheharyar Khan Sheharyar Khan *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. Tech Company Rankings Tech Company Rankings Tech, What the Heck!? is a once-weekly newsletter written by HackerNoon editors that combine HackerNoon's proprietary data with news-worthy tech stories from around the internet. Humorous and insightful, the newsletter recaps trending events that are shaping the world of tech. Subscribe here. Tech, What the Heck!? is a once-weekly newsletter written by HackerNoon editors that combine HackerNoon's proprietary data with news-worthy tech stories from around the internet. Humorous and insightful, the newsletter recaps trending events that are shaping the world of tech. Subscribe here. Tech, What the Heck!? is a once-weekly newsletter written by HackerNoon editors that combine HackerNoon's proprietary data with news-worthy tech stories from around the internet. Humorous and insightful, the newsletter recaps trending events that are shaping the world of tech. Subscribe here . here here

What is OpenAI Hiding?

(Image credits: A Golden Bear Market by Anndy Lian) The value of a cryptocurrency can be influenced by various factors, including news about the cryptocurrency and its underlying technology, government regulations, and overall market conditions. The market can also be influenced by investor sentiment, which can be affected by a wide range of events. There are many different types of investments in the cryptocurrency space, and the popular specific investments can vary over time. In general, some of the most popular types of cryptocurrency investments include: Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency that was the first of its kind. It is often considered a store of value and is widely recognized and accepted as a form of payment. Bitcoin: Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts, which are applications that execute automatically when certain conditions are met. It is also used as a platform for building decentralized applications (dApps). Ethereum: DeFi refers to financial applications built on the blockchain and decentralized, meaning that they are not controlled by a single entity. DeFi tokens are often used to access or participate in these applications. Decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens: Security tokens are digital assets representing ownership in an asset, such as a company or real estate. They are subject to federal securities laws and are often issued through initial coin offerings (ICOs). Security tokens: Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are pegged to a stable asset, such as the US dollar, to reduce price volatility. Stablecoins: There are many different investment theses for cryptocurrencies. Some people believe that cryptocurrencies have the potential to replace traditional fiat currencies. In contrast, others think they will be used primarily as a store of value or a means of exchange. Still, others believe that the underlying blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries, from supply chain management to identity verification. These Are Some Specific Investment Theses for Cryptocurrencies: Some people believe that cryptocurrencies will eventually be used as a primary means of exchange, replacing traditional fiat currencies. The use of cryptocurrency as a means of exchange: Some people believe that cryptocurrencies will eventually be used as a store of value, similar to gold. The store of value thesis: Some people believe that the underlying blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries and that investing in cryptocurrencies is a way to get in on the ground floor of this technological revolution. The blockchain revolution thesis: Some people believe that the price of a cryptocurrency will continue to go up as long as someone is willing to buy it at a higher price, even if there is no intrinsic value to the cryptocurrency. This is sometimes referred to as the "greater fool" theory of investing. The "greater fool" theory: Venture capitalists (VCs) are investors who provide capital to early-stage companies in exchange for equity ownership. In the cryptocurrency space and especially after witnessing the fall of FTX, many VCs have started to be interested in investing in companies that are working on infrastructure and applications for the blockchain, rather than investing directly in cryptocurrencies themselves. Some Specific Areas of Interest for VCs in the Cryptocurrency Space. VCs have invested in companies working on building out the infrastructure for the blockchain, such as companies that are developing new consensus algorithms or building out decentralized storage solutions. Blockchain infrastructure: New blockchains get good support too. Shardeum is the world's first EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)-based sharded blockchain mainnet. With dynamic state sharding technology, the blockchain can linearly scale and increase TPS (transaction per second) with every node added to the network. The network can maintain low gas fees indefinitely. It was co-founded by Nischal Shetty, a co-founder of WazirX, India's largest crypto exchange by trading volume. They have raised $18.2 million in a seed funding round from more than 50 investors, including Jane Street and The Spartan Group joined this seed round along with Wemade and others. Web3, also known as Web 3.0, is the next iteration of the World Wide Web, and it is built on blockchain technology. It is designed to be more decentralized, secure, and open than the current Web. Web3 solutions: VCs are looking for projects that align with the core principles of Web3 and have the potential to drive its adoption and growth. This is another rising trend. The Venom Foundation, a Layer-1 blockchain licensed and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and Iceberg Capital, an ADGM-regulated investment manager, have announced a partnership to launch the Venom Ventures Fund (VVF), a $1 billion venture fund. The fund aims to invest in innovative protocols and Web3 dApps, focusing on long-term trends such as payments, asset management, DeFi, banking services, and GameFi. The VVF will be blockchain-agnostic, meaning it will not be limited to any specific blockchain and will invest in projects based on their potential regardless of the underlying blockchain. The fund aims to become the leading supporter of next-generation digital technologies and entrepreneurs. I noted that the VCs in my network are also looking at blockchain applications. VCs have also invested in companies that are using the blockchain to build new applications, such as supply chain management platforms, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and decentralized identity solutions. Interoperability and cross-chain solutions, for example, aim to enable different blockchain networks to communicate and interact with each other and are also one of the top investment choices. When I showed this article to some of my friends before publishing, they asked me why didn't VCs consider investing in crypto exchanges. The truth is that most of the VCs who understand how the crypto market works would know that exchanges are facing tremendous stress from the regulators. Having a license does not necessarily mean good, honestly. There are new travel rules that will tighten how crypto moves. The new rules may even force DEXs to new unknown territories where the realization of profits can be deemed a nuisance for many investors. The older existing exchanges usually have very high operating costs, overspending habits on marketing, sponsorships, and staffing. Moreover, the valuation is way too high for a good entry point, in my humble opinion. Therefore, I believe investing in blockchain infrastructure and applications will support the development and growth of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and potentially generate more sustainable returns for its investors in this bear run. It is also important to note that VC investment in the cryptocurrency space is just one aspect of the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. There are many other types of investors, such as hedge funds, family offices, and individual investors, who may have different investment theses and strategies. Having said this, there are still many opportunities in this volatile market. I commented in the yesterday, “Gold may be a safe haven”, but there were many other [crypto] opportunities elsewhere for investors “to profit from price fluctuations.” South China Morning Post Take a recent market movement, for example. A fellow investor in Singapore reacted quickly to short bitcoin after the US report of 6.5% CPI inflation. He made money. During the same week, he noted that the resistance level had hit its low and would bounce upward soon. He injected another $10m to long it. Bitcoin went over $21,000. He made money again. And when he heard rumors that PBOC might start to print more money as a stimulus, he sold his crypto holdings into Chinese A-shares as he saw a higher upside in the longer run. As a licensed fund manager and a VC myself for over a decade, this is my humble note to all. "Believe in the underlying technology, aim for community growth and ride on the right waves for the best crypto returns."- Anndy Lian. Not financial advice, of course.

What Are Crypto Venture Capitalists (VCs) Investing in This Bearish Market?

I have been in a dilemma For months about whether I should invest in cryptocurrency or not. I am sure so many young stars like me faced the same question at least once after the recent crypto news started pouring in on new channels, social media, newspapers, and almost everywhere.  Being an Indian the question that haunts crypto enthusiasts is the future of crypto in India. I am Anwesha, a crypto enthusiast who will try to understand and answer this question as per my understanding. Decentralized System of Crypto The best thing about cryptocurrency is that it uses a decentralized system which means nobody owns the currency, and nobody controls it. Nobody is capable of snatching away the assets that you have created in the form of crypto. At best, keeping the recent scenario of crypto India in mind, the government may not allow anyone to trade in crypto in India in various circumstances. However, finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman’s announcement in Union Budget 2022-2023 about the government’s decision of posing 30% taxation on the profit earned by crypto assets gave a light of hope to many. Crypto investors and companies breathed a sigh of relief that crypto is one step nearer to being legalized in India. Because the matter of taxation only comes in the scenario while there is a legalization process going on. India is More Likely to Follow the Majority Many progressive countries like the USA, the European Union, Australia have legalized and recognized cryptocurrencies as crypto assets. Now in this scenario, India is more likely to go with the progressive countries and not with regressive countries. This is the opinion of Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, India’s largest crypto exchange. He also highlighted India’s nature of recent growth. For the last two decades, India has seen an exponential growth in IT and services. Crypto is just an extension of the same technology. Cryptocurrency, if legalized in India, is capable of cross-border transactions hassle-free and will ensure liquidity for companies. A solution to Regulatory Confusion The regulation follows the inventions. India as a nation is struggling to understand blockchain technology entirely. Clarification is yet to come, after which the regulation will follow, says Nischal Shetty. Regulatory authority tries to safeguard anything that has already been established in a country which is not the case with crypto yet. However, crypto as technology is gradually making its market and we may hope to see regulations around cryptocurrency very soon. It takes time to adapt to new technology. The same was the case with the internet. The more people started to understand the internet, the stronger the technology became and the regulation related to the internet came much later after people started using it. Conclusion It gets very difficult for cutting-edge technology like blockchain to gather enough data around crypto to support its feasibility. But we can hope a massive awareness may happen within 5 years about the crypto industry. Jargons such as cryptocurrency, crypto security, crypto asset, and crypto utility will be as normal as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, FDs, etc.

What's the Future of Crypto in India?

Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, is creating a plethora of opportunities for job seekers. Both students and seasoned tech professionals have opportunities to carve a career in this consistently growing technology. For tech professionals who lost their job during this pandemic, the technology offers a respite from a large number of job vacancies around the world. In India, Naukri.com, a web-based Job portal, currently reveals 20,500 blockchain-related jobs, upon looking up the keyword blockchain. Similarly, LinkedIn India shows 900 blockchain jobs upon search. A LinkedIn report, reveals blockchain as a hard skill in high demand, beating cloud computing skills, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, which were the most in-demand skills in 2019. What’s more, job opportunities are expected to grow further after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on cryptocurrencies in India this year. Several prominent blockchain start-ups have come up and many more are flourishing in the space. What is blockchain technology? ** **is a distributed ledger technology (DLT) that allows businesses to create a tamper-proof decentralized data network. Supply chain, fin-tech, banking, retail, and many other industries are using technology to create more transparency in business operations Perr increases the efficiency of the business processes. The adoption of technology across financial institutions has grown significantly, accelerating the pace of banking operations. Cross-border payments are cheaper and faster due to the elimination of middle services. Food all which earlier would take a week now can take place in less than a  minute giving supply chain companies more control. Blockchain Growth of the blockchain industry Both blockchain-based applications (Dapps) and cryptocurrencies are growing around the world. According to Statista, spending on blockchain technology solutions may reach up to $15.9 billion by 2023. Cryptocurrency exchanges are growing phenomenally. WazirX, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch are a few exchanges that are leading the growth of the cryptocurrency market. As the cryptocurrency market matures, demand for new roles like blockchain engineers, crypto community managers, etc. is increasing as well. This is a good time for students or anyone who wants to start a tech career. The supply of blockchain talent is short in the Indian market. Demand for blockchain professionals After the Supreme Court lifted the ban on cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency exchanges have grown in the industry. Hiring across blockchain-based products and cryptocurrencies is witnessing a spurt. Blockchain technology is relatively new in the industry, which is making it challenging for employers to find skilled talent. Companies are struggling to find talent that meets their needs. Nischal Shetty, Founder of WazirX, a Mumbai-based cryptocurrency exchange, says “We’re actively hiring in India to fuel our growth. Though the demand is high, skills in blockchain and cryptocurrencies don’t exist in India.” The lifting of the ban on cryptocurrency will accelerate the growth of the industry and will give rise to new job roles. Blockchain engineers, community managers, and crypto economists are a few roles that will see a spurt of demand, adds Sumit Gupta, Cofounder, and CEO, of CoinDCX, a Mumbai-based cryptocurrency exchange. Start-ups are collaborating with ed-tech start-ups to impart requisite skills and develop the talent required by the company. Blockchain Certifications, training, and courses have grown to meet the demand for upskilling. Wazir X, for instance, has partnered with five ed-tech companies including Indian Blockchain Institute, Corum8, Zubi, Qualki Academy, and Inbox Academy to offer training to meet its demand for blockchain professionals. Many start-ups are educating students at universities and colleges to propagate knowledge of blockchain technology via webinars and workshops, to spread awareness and pique interest among the students. Worldwide, CBCA (Central Blockchain Council of America), Blockchain Council, and other blockchain professional certification institutes have emerged to offer skill development programs to excel in a blockchain career.

Blockchain Creates New Career Opportunities

Web3, crypto, NFTs, and DAOs are divisive issues. Half the world seems to believe this is the future. The other half believe it’s little more than a scam. I, obviously, fell into the former camp. But we’ll never be able to convince the detractors that Web3 is a legitimate development of the web and business unless we make it safer. Especially because the vast majority of media coverage focuses on the negative news of scams, collapses, and hacks. Our mission here at DeRev is to help people act with more confidence and with more safety in Web3. To that end, we’ve put this report assessing the growth, impact, and reach of the world’s best cryptocurrency exchanges. Why? First, to identify who are the top performers in the space so you know who you’re better off… Partnering with Using as a service provider Trusting with your money and investments And second, to understand how cryptocurrency exchanges are changing on a monthly and yearly basis in terms of growth, adoption, and usage. We’re zooming out to get a macro image of the industry to help you make more informed decisions and understand if the industry is growing or shrinking as a whole. This is the state of Web3 report, cryptocurrency exchange edition. Analyzing cryptocurrency exchanges and their usage We’ve pulled the stats from 58 of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges to get visibility into the top performers and understand how the general trends are changing in usage and reach. The statistics were pulled from March 2020 through to April 2022 to identify yearly and monthly changes to these major platforms. Quick statistics If you don’t have the time to read the full report, here’s a quick overview of the key learnings. Overall online presence of cryptocurrency exchanges The 12-month period ending April 2022 when compared to the prior 12-month period saw… Total traffic to crypto exchanges increased by an average of 363.47%. Unique visitors increased 479.70%. The percentage of unique visitors to total traffic increased by 131.98%. Pages per visit decreased from 4.75 to 3.22 - a decrease of 32.14%. The time on site also decreased from 21 minutes and 1 second to 16 minutes and 27 seconds, a decrease of 22%. In short, overall traffic is up, but engagement is down.  However, increases massively outperform decreases ensuring overall positive growth. Online presence of specific cryptocurrency exchanges , , , , and have the highest levels of traffic and unique visitors. Binance Coinbase eToro Crypto.com Kraken Despite wild traffic swings, these 5 exchanges maintain very stable return visitor percentages. Binance is the only exchange in these top 5 that maintains above-average engagement across all key metrics. Overall trading volume growth of cryptocurrency exchanges Total 12-month trading volume increased 424.65% between the two time periods The trading volume bears a very close resemblance to the increase in the unique visitor rate of 479.70%. The average trade volume per unique visitor decreased from $9125.08 to $8077.92, a loss of 11.48%. Trading volume growth of specific cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, , , Coinbase, and had the highest total trade volume for the 2021-2022 period of the analyzed exchanges. OKX Huobi Currency.com , crypto.com, , were the fastest growing in terms of trading volume between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Coinflex FTX Gate.io, WazirX Coinflex’s growth was particularly notable as they experienced a 21217.14% increase in the former 12-month’s trading volume. Huobi, , Currency.com, , and had the highest trading volume to unique visitor ratio. Bitmart Changelly Lbank Huobi takes the biscuit here with $73,145 in trading volume for every unique visitor. Now let’s get into the full breakdown of cryptocurrency exchanges. Presentation of key cryptocurrency exchange statistics Overall Reach of Crypto Exchanges Unsurprisingly, the total reach of platforms has increased drastically between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. In fact, overall saw an average 363.47% increase in overall traffic. cryptocurrency exchanges A 363.47% increase in overall traffic. We see a similar number when looking at how many of the visitors were unique. The increase of unique visitors increased by 479.70% on average. The increase of unique visitors increased by 479.70% Unique visitors vs. total visitors on cryptocurrency exchanges However, what’s interesting to note is that the unique visitors outpaced the growth of the total visitors in this time period. Not by much, but it could be the start of a trend. Unique visitors increased more than total visitors. This shows that there are more people visiting these sites yet not coming back for more than a single visit. This is most likely thanks to the massive increase in publicity and interest Crypto received during 2021. The higher occurrence of single visits is likely thanks to the steep learning curve with cryptocurrency exchanges and huge amounts of negative press that deter people from taking action. Unique visitor benchmark for cryptocurrency exchanges If we’re to look at the average overall percentage of unique visitors, it’s pretty interesting. If you’re growing any similar platform, this is the average rate of returning visitors I would aim to ensure you’re hitting the industry benchmark. In the 2020-2021 period, the average unique visitor rate was 24.85%. In the 2021-2022 period it was slightly higher at 32.8%. That’s an increase of 131.98%. % of unique visitors increased by 131.98% Let’s finally look at overall engagement on the site. User engagement in cryptocurrency exchanges To assess engagement we’re going to look at the overall time on site and the number of pages a user visits when using the exchange. By the nature of an exchange, these will be high. People don’t jump into one page and achieve all they want to. They’ll have to find their wallet, check exchange rates, ensure they’ve input the right chain to transfer through, and more. So the visits per session should be quite high. The average pages per session is consistent with what we’ve seen so far. They’re slightly higher in the 2020-2021 period. Likely because this period had more “serious” and experienced crypto people who were more interested in using these platforms. The latter period will have had a lot of people heading to these platforms to “check things out” thanks to the increased press coverage. However, many of these won’t have much experience or knowledge on what to do or how to use the platforms effectively. Pages per visit dropped 32.14%. The average time on site for these visitors seems to follow the same trend. Once again, ToS is reduced when you get into the 2021-2022’s time period. We see 2022’s time period achieving only 78% of the ToS as the previous time period. Visit duration dropped 22%. The overall visit duration to cryptocurrency exchange is still very high despite the drop. One theory we have is that with newer traders coming in, they may not spend as long comparing various assets and prices. In addition, they may not be using a to store their assets. good hardware wallet Anyone who has used a cold wallet will tell you that it slows down any transaction. Basically, there are more new people who aren't as knowledgeable or as security conscious as longer-term crypto investors. Overall cryptocurrency exchange engagement and reach a summary All in all, we see an obvious trend in cryptocurrency exchange’s reach and engagement. There’s been a huge influx of new users in the crypto world, likely thanks to the huge press the industry has received throughout 2021. However, the engagement rate of these new users isn't as high as it once was. This is likely because a good portion of this new traffic is less educated on crypto and is either trying to get into digital currencies or is simply checking out what’s available. Do we think this trend will continue? Yes. Do we think this is cause for concern? No. On average, engagement has dropped by ~27%. However, traffic overall has increased by an astounding 363% on average. There’s still a huge number of highly engaged people coming to cryptocurrency exchanges, and the trends all seem set to continue growing. Let’s quickly look at the top performers in the reviewed crypto exchanges. Overall cryptocurrency exchange trading volume Reach is only half the equation when ranking cryptocurrency exchanges. We also need to look at the trading volume of these exchanges to identify the best performing platforms and understand what changes to reach and engagement do to trading volume. Overall trading volume increase on cryptocurrency exchanges There has, obviously, been a huge increase in trading volume over the same time period. What’s really interesting is how the increase is very similar to the increase we see in the increased unique visitor rate. Across all exchanges surveyed, there’s been an average 424.65% increase in trading volume. Very similar to the 479.70% increase in unique visitors. The traffic data seems to show an increase in overall traffic, but a decrease in return visitors and overall engagement. Basically indicates more “newbie traders” who aren’t as serious about crypto as long-time traders. As such, I would have expected the trading volume to have experienced less growth than traffic and unique visitors. However, the increase in unique visitors and trading volume really is quite close. Trading volume and unique visitors share a close correlation in growth. If we then compare the trading volume against unique users, the average trading value per unique visit is huge. I say huge because I come from a software marketing background where the average order value is much, much lower. If I were to pull the stats of recorded Binance users vs. trading volume, it’s in the 10s or thousands per user. This metric, because unique visitors won’t necessarily sign up for the service, is more conservative. But on average, the average trading volume per unique visitor to cryptocurrency exchanges fell between the two time periods. It was $9125.08 in the 2020-2021 time period. That fell to $8077.92 in the following year. A total loss of around 11.48%. The average trading volume per unique visitor fell 11.48%. However, once again as the number of unique visitors increased so dramatically, the overall impact is a positive gain for the exchanges. When comparing trading volume with other metrics like pages per visit and time-on-site, there’s no obvious correlation - at least none as strong as the unique visitors to trading volume. I am surprised by this as I thought the exchanges with higher return traffic would be the ones to see higher trading volume. Now let’s get into specific exchanges and how they perform. Top-performing cryptocurrency exchanges reach We now have an overview of how the overall cryptocurrency exchange reach has grown. Let’s dig in to find the top performers. There are a few surprises here.  If you’re already thinning one or two players are miles ahead of the pack, you’re right. The three biggest exchanges in the 2021-2022 period by visitor count are , , and . Binance Coinbase eToro And when we say they’re ahead, they’re far ahead of the pack. Binance is by far the leader here. What I find most interesting here is that the big winners all seem to have very similar stats on one or two key metrics linked to engagement. Returning users for cryptocurrency exchanges Repeat visitors are a key element in assessing the overall user experience and value service offers to a user. If a site has a very high unique visitor rate, it often means that people check out the site one time and never return. This indicates the site isn’t solving the needs as people never come back. When assessing cryptocurrency exchanges, I noticed that there’s a key difference between the major players and smaller brands. In particular, we see the same percentage of unique customers regardless of traffic month over month. For example, if Binance has 100,000,000 users this month with a ~30% unique visitor rate, it means that 70% of their traffic is visitors coming back more than once. Next month, they might generate 200,000,000 users. However, they still maintain a similar ~30% unique visitor rate. This means that 70% of the extra 100,000,000 are users who come back more than once. This is similar to all of the big exchanges. You’ll see that traffic fluctuates wildly, but the % of unique visitors stays pretty consistent. Even with wild traffic swings, the unique visitor % stays relatively constant. Basically, these sites have systems in place to ensure that when someone comes to their site, there’s something there to get them to come back multiple times within the same time month. This tells us that they’re very good at solving their user’s problems and ensuring they get the service they’re looking for. Often you’ll see traffic spike with a lot of new users who never return. Not in these big brands. Binance maintains a relatively steady 30% state of unique visitors and is the largest by overall traffic. Whereas has around 55% uniques. Meaning only 45% of their traffic is return visitors. Crypto.com In short, this shows me that Binance is likely offering a better service than Crypto.com to their users as the majority of their traffic is from returning visitors. Pages per visit for cryptocurrency exchanges Pages per visit are also a good indicator of user experience, especially for cryptocurrency exchanges. You’re very unlikely to find the currency you want to invest in and action the trade by visiting a single page. You’re going to have to view multiple pages to find the right currency, fund your wallet, and make the exchange. The average page per visit for cryptocurrency exchanges across all those analyzed for the year is 3.22 per visit. Which is what you’d expect for the majority of people looking to buy a single currency like Bitcoin. Getting that transaction done on 3 pages is normal. Exchanges with higher than average pages per visit often have better navigation, leading to people clicking through to more pages. Exchanges that are lower than average are often making it confusing for users to find what they need. They see higher bounce rates without the user achieving their goal. Basically, more pages visited means that people have greater reasons to stay. What’s interesting here is that the brands at the very top of the rankings consistently achieve higher than average pages/visits. As you drop those rankings, we tend to see these brands achieve fewer pages per visit. Making your site sticky is key to growth. Time on site for cryptocurrency exchanges Time onsite is also a major indicator of user experience for crypto exchanges. The nature of cryptocurrencies means investors are going to have to conduct research before taking any action. As such, they’re likely going to be on the site for some time. The average time on site across all cryptocurrency exchanges in the year 2021-2022 was 16 minutes and 22 seconds. I took a look at the major exchanges and, again, the trend persists. Binance and eToro are consistently above average. dips in and out month on month while Crypto.com and Coinbase are consistently lower than average. Kraken ‍ Top-performing cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume Let’s once again dig a little deeper and see if we can identify trends in trading volume to user engagement metrics. This time, we’ll do it by analyzing the best performers to see what they do so well. When looking at the trading volume by platform, I expected to see the same top 5 performers. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Binance is still far and away from the leader. However, of Kraken, eToro, Crypto.com, and Coinbase, only Coinbase ranks in the top 5. Crypto.com comes in in 9th place, Kraken at 11th, and eToro comes in at 32nd. A huge difference in overall traffic and reach. Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 performers in the 12-month period due to monthly trading volume. Binance is still the leader. The legend on the right-hand side goes in order of total trading volume over the 12 months. Meaning Binance is the top performer, is #2, and so on. OKX Fastest growing cryptocurrency exchanges by trade volume We pulled the trading volume for the 12 months ending in April 2022 and compared it to the 12 months ending in April 2021 to see who’s experienced the most incredible growth. What’s great here is that we have some of the “smaller” brands massively outperforming brands when it comes to growth. is the biggest winner here with a staggering growth of 21,217.14%.  On their daily trading volume was up almost 19,000% at the start of the year, so it looks like things are still moving in the right direction. CoinFlex own site they mentioned Crypto.com - often just short of a podium finish in terms of traffic and overall trade volume, is a surprising #2 with a very respectable 4468% growth rate. As you’d expect, the larger brands like Binance and Coinbase experienced less growth as a %, but still, dominate the top spots in terms of overall transactions. Coinflex experienced incredible trading volume growth of 21,217.14% ‍ The highest unique visitor to trading volume value cryptocurrency exchange Finally, I want to examine, on a deeper level, the idea that unique visitors correlate very closely to overall trade volume. Specifically, I want to know which platforms have the most unique visitor trading volume ratio. This could help signify who has the best systems in place to turn visitors into customers time and time again. This is, again, a key indicator of good UX as they’re converting more people into users in a somewhat complicated space. is the clear winner here, closely trailed by , and . Huobi Bitmart Currency.com, Changelly Huobi has the highest trading volume to unique visitor ratio Summing up If we’re looking purely at the raw total numbers, there are a few surprises in this report. Big players are much further ahead when it comes to market penetration, reach, and impact with cryptocurrency investors. However, there are a few surprises when we look at the up-and-coming brands. Brands can only get to a certain size before growth starts to taper off and slow down. Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken will likely be around for a long while to come. They’ve established themselves as the major players in the market. But as these exchanges grow, they’ll find it difficult to quickly pivot and address emerging market desires with speed. That’s where smaller, more agile brands like CoinFlex will see great success. It might be safer to go with industry-standard brands like Binance, but if you’re looking to use services that are more aggressive with their rewards and will be more receptive to your feedback and ideas, it might be worth trying some of the fastest-growing brands. They’ve now established a foothold and will be looking to do whatever they can to solidify and continue growth. While this report is an overview of our findings, a more detailed analysis of the basis of our rankings for the best cryptocurrency exchanges going forward. If you want to stay abreast of the best platforms to use on Web3 to stay safe and get the best service, be sure to subscribe and follow. Also published . here

The State of Web3 - Cryptocurrency Exchange Growth and Trading Volume in 2022

Cryptocurrencies are, beyond no reasonable doubt, one of the world's promising investment opportunities. Over the recent years, crypto markets have been booming with sensational gains attracting speculators and investors. On the other hand, crypto exchanges offer diversified solutions to existing traders and new investors who would like to tap into massive payments in crypto. There are many factors to consider while selecting these exchanges. Here are some of the most outstanding factors to consider will choosing a crypto trading platform. Where do you trade? The area of operation is one of the critical factors to consider before picking a crypto trading platform. The big question is, If the answer is yes, you will have no problem swapping your favorite tokens. On the contrary, it becomes difficult to use if the platform is restricted to operating with your jurisdiction. does your exchange of choice operate in your area or country? Different countries have different regulations and laws on cryptocurrency trading. For that matter, exchanges ought to comply with the set trading legislations before they are allowed to operate with a specific territory. For instance, users in the US may not enjoy the services of Binance, one of the world's largest exchanges, like their counterparts in other countries. If you find yourself in such a situation, you may want to consider signing up for a not-restricted platform within your jurisdiction. You may consider platforms like Coinbase and Kraken for the US case to do your crypto trading. Usability Well, these exchanges are built with different layouts. Some give users an easy time, for they are pretty straightforward, while others are quite complicated and may require users to have an in-depth understanding of trading before swapping digital assets on them. Is the platform easy to use? Like any other business, these platforms are meant to fulfill different market niches; some are intended to serve newbies traders while others are best for experienced investors. Exchanges like Coinbase, Square, Wazirx,  Gemini, BlockFi, and Binance might be an excellent choice for newbies. These platforms are pretty straightforward and allow users even with basic trading knowledge to use these efficiently. For users looking for a more pleasing experience, exchanges like FTX, Kraken, Coinbase Pro, Bitstamp, and Bitfinex might be perfect. The Cryptocurrency of Choices As much as these exchanges offer various digital assets, . Every trading platform has its criteria for listing cryptocurrency; hence traders need to check where the crypto they want to buy or sell is required for a specific exchange before taking any action. not all digital tokens are listed in every exchange out there Decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and DYDX, for instance, tend to offer more trading pairs than their centralized counterparts. Decentral exchanges might be the best choice for anyone looking forward to tapping into the alternative crypto or ATLs. Even though centralized platforms come with limited pairs, the listing is a continuous process. Security Security is crucial to consider before settling for a cryptocurrency swapping platform. At this point, most sites offering digital transfer services have beefed up security through sophisticated algorithms that . These exploits still happen as hackers develop more advanced ways to crack security loopholes. make it hard for hackers to exploit billions of dollars in crypto assets It's therefore crucial for traders and investors to be on the lookout and settle for the most secure platforms to avoid the risk of losing their precious digital assets. Trading Fee A trader needs to consider the cost of doing business on a specific trading platform before engaging in any business activity. Some exchanges allow you to swap between various digital assets with low fees, while others charge high prices for a simple swap. Many factors may affect trading fees on a trading platform, but it doesn't make sense to pay for increased expenses while another exchange does a similar transaction at a cheaper cost.

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