TL;DR
- Binance has committed over $700 million in compensation following a flash crash.
- Despite the reimbursement, the exchange faces growing scrutiny and massive withdrawals.
- New allegations about listing practices add to the pressure on the company.
A difficult week shakes the foundations of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Following reports that glitches in its trading systems worsened the flash crash on October 10th, the company has been caught in a spiral of doubt that not even a disbursement of over $700 million in compensation has managed to dispel.
Far from calming the market, the magnitude of the reimbursement has raised more questions than answers, triggering a severe Binance confidence crisis.
The firm detailed a payment plan that includes $45 million for memecoin traders, $283 million for losses linked to de-pegging issues, and $400 million for institutional and futures traders. However, by denying direct responsibility for the collapse, the multi-million dollar figure has been met with skepticism.
Critics like Benson Sun of Coin Karma have publicly questioned the logic behind such a generous compensation, suggesting there might be more to it than is being admitted.
Between CZ’s Defense and New Accusations
In an attempt to mitigate the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt), Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao defended the company’s position. He recalled that user protection is a historic pillar of the company, citing as an example a $6 million refund made in 2017 during the cryptocurrency ban in China, which represented 40% of its operational funds at the time. Nevertheless, his words compete against a flood of new controversies. Ecosystem builders and venture capitalists like Simon Dedic and Mike Dudas have alleged that Binance charges fees of up to $2 million to list projects.
These accusations, combined with the handling of the recent technical failure, directly fuel the Binance confidence crisis, which is materializing in an alarming fact: the withdrawal of billions of dollars from the exchange by investors seeking refuge amidst the uncertainty.
