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Conflict Identified as Crypto.com Trading on its Own PlatformTrading practices at Crypto.com, the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, have raised questions about potential conflicts of interest within the digital assets industry.Citing a number of unnamed sources, the Financial Times (FT) made the claim in a report published on Monday.Photo by Pixabay on PexelsConflict of interestIn traditional financial markets, exchanges typically match buyers with sellers at competitive transparent prices, while market making and proprietary trading are conducted by separate private companies. However, US regulators have recently cracked down on similar activities at digital asset exchanges. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, faced 13 charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including allegations of manipulative trading to inflate trading volume.The presence of internal traders at Crypto.com has not been widely known since the company’s launch in 2016. The FT’s sources claim that Crypto.com executives provided sworn statements to external trading houses denying the company’s involvement in trading activities.Employees were allegedly instructed to deny the existence of an internal market-making operation. In response to inquiries, Crypto.com denied that employees were asked to lie, stating that their internal market maker functioned similarly to third-party market makers, ensuring tight spreads and efficient markets on their platform.The majority of Crypto.com’s revenue reportedly comes from its app for retail traders, where the company acts as the counterparty for transactions and operates as a broker model. The company’s trading team hedges these positions on various venues, including their own exchange, to maintain risk neutrality. Crypto.com emphasized that their exchange provides a level playing field for institutional traders.According to insiders, Crypto.com’s proprietary trading desk engages in trading activities on the company’s exchange and other platforms, solely focused on generating profits rather than facilitating an exchange. The market making desk, on the other hand, aims to enhance liquidity on the platform.Not a revenue sourceCrypto.com defended its practices by stating that comparing trading volumes to competitors is common in the industry. It said that the company’s priority is to continuously improve order book liquidity and reduce spreads, benefiting all participants. The firm told Decrypt that trading is not a source of revenue: “While we do have some market making activity, for example, we have internal market makers for our CFTC-regulated product Up/Downs in the United States.”As a private company, Crypto.com publishes accounts in different countries, but revenue breakdown by business line is not disclosed.Closure of institutional tradingFollowing the SEC’s enforcement actions, earlier this month Crypto.com announced the closure of its exchange for institutional US traders due to limited demand in the current market landscape, effective from June 21.In any marketplace transparency and fairness are crucial. It’s fair to say that there has been some level of sharp practice among some actors in the marketplace while regulators have been lacking in getting up to speed with the emergent sector, and moving to protect consumers. With the major crypto platform failures of 2022 has come renewed interest in resolving these issues. That may make for some short-term difficulty, but in the longer term, it should mean greater protections for market participants so long as a common sense approach is pursued.

IEEE to deploy skill certificates on blockchain for Indian membersThe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a professional association boasting a membership of over 75,000 in India, has chosen the Avalanche blockchain as the primary settlement layer for issuing tamper-evident certificates.Photo by Vishnu Mohanan on UnsplashIntegrating Avalanche blockchainIndia holds the second-largest IEEE membership base globally outside the United States, making this move a significant development in secure credentialing.According to a report by Cointelegraph on Wednesday, Avalanche’s C-Chain will serve as the key settlement layer for IEEE’s certificate issuance due to its compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The decision aims to provide an ecosystem that meets the requirements for tamper-proof, instant and secure verification processes for all trainees and users receiving IEEE credentials.Zupple Labs collaborationThe blockchain certificates will be issued through LegitDoc, a blockchain-based credential lifecycle management system developed by Zupple Labs. Neil Martis, Co-Founder of Zupple, noted that the Indian public sector has shown increased willingness to implement full-fledged blockchain projects over the past 12 months, moving beyond pilot initiatives.This is the latest project in recent weeks that has seen Zupple Labs play a key role in enabling the real-world use of blockchain. Through a collaboration with the Indian Web3 startup in October, the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) streamlined its purchase order process, issuing tamper-proof digital purchase orders via LegitDoc.Avalanche expands into IndiaDevika Mittal, Head of Avalanche’s India arm, emphasized the significance of Avalanche’s EVM compatibility in simplifying the deployment of widely used applications, including credential registries and identity management. She pointed out that reputable institutions like SK Planet and JP Morgan Onyx prefer Avalanche as their go-to blockchain.Mittal has been a key hire for Avalanche blockchain developer Ava Labs recently as part of its efforts to target significant expansion within India. Earlier this year, the company collaborated with China’s Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing subsidiary of e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group, assisting with the building of a launchpad that will enable the deployment of metaverses.The partnership between IEEE and Zupple Labs is poised to bring about the issuance of numerous tamper-proof engineering credentials in India. This collaboration underscores the growing acceptance of blockchain in education credentialing, setting a powerful precedent for broader participation in the Web3 landscape.In an interview, Martis expressed the flexibility of their approach, stating:“We would be experimenting with new platforms as additional parallel settlement layers as suitable new tech emerges.”This reflects an openness to exploring evolving blockchain technologies while maintaining a commitment to ensuring the immutability, longevity and security of the solutions.The IEEE-Zupple Labs collaboration aligns with the trend of blockchain integration in educational and professional spheres, offering a glimpse into the future of secure and efficient credentialing systems. As the second-largest membership base outside the United States, India plays a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of blockchain adoption within professional associations like IEEE.

Top Korean Crypto Exchanges Witness Surge in Listings and Delistings During H1In the first half of this year, South Korea’s top five cryptocurrency exchanges experienced notable growth in the number of newly added cryptocurrencies to their platforms. However, they also observed a significant surge in the number of cryptocurrencies being delisted.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashDelisting and listingAccording to a report by local news outlet Etoday, the nation’s five leading exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax ceased trading for a total of 51 cryptocurrencies during the first six months of this year. This marked an 88% increase compared to the 27 cryptocurrencies delisted in the previous six-month period. During the first half of last year, the number of delisted tokens was 48.Among the five exchanges, Coinone took the lead by delisting the highest number of cryptocurrencies, totaling 24. Bithumb followed with 14 delisted tokens, Gopax with six, Upbit with five, and Korbit with two. Notably, Coinone continued its delisting spree this month, removing an additional five cryptocurrencies from its platform. Most cryptos were delisted because their projects and services were not operating normally.The significant number of delisted tokens at Coinone appears to be linked to the involvement of its former employees in the unlawful listing of certain tokens. These individuals reportedly received bribes in exchange for listing a total of 46 cryptocurrencies on the trading platform. Among these tokens were PICA and PURE, which are no longer traded on the exchange.Only five cryptocurrencies were delisted according to the decision made by the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), a self-regulatory group consisting of the aforementioned five crypto exchanges. The delisted tokens were REP, BASIC, OMG, SRM, and PCI. This indicates that most of the affected cryptocurrencies were exclusively traded on one of the DAXA member exchanges, indicating that DAXA’s listing and delisting guidelines were largely ineffective.Meanwhile, there has been a notable surge in the number of newly added cryptocurrencies. Bithumb, for instance, took the lead by listing an impressive 63 new tokens, nearly three times the number listed by Upbit (22). In the same vein, Coinone added 14 tokens, while Korbit and Gopax followed with six and three new listings, respectively.Profit squeezeLast year, crypto trading platforms adopted a conservative approach when it came to listing and delisting procedures, prioritizing investor protection. However, their stance shifted as the global crypto market encountered a significant decline in trading volume amid crypto winter. This decrease in trading activity subsequently led to reduced operating profits, compelling the platforms to list more cryptocurrencies.With the exception of Upbit, which maintains a dominant market share in the nation, the outlook on crypto exchanges appears more or less grim. In particular, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax are in the red. Bithumb, while still in profit, saw its operating profit last year falling 80% year-over-year to 163.5 billion KRW ($127.9 million). This trend continued this year, with Bithumb’s operating profit In the first quarter of this year recording 16.2 billion KRW, an 80% decrease compared to the same period last year.In light of this development, an industry insider, who wished to stay anonymous, told Etoday that while the market’s total trading volume is witnessing a considerable decline, Upbit’s dominance is still growing. This individual also noted that the decrease in trading volume and the resulting deficit are exerting pressure on exchanges to expand their cryptocurrency listings.