Crypto Exchanges Gate.io and Crypto.com Reportedly Faking Proof of Reserves (2024)

Update Nov 13 (14:00UTC): Crypto.com have replied the movement of funds, stating that “The ETH transfers were made over three weeks ago, on October 21st to Crypto.com’s whitelisted corporate account at Gate.io. Crypto.com proceeded to withdraw the funds back to its cold wallets over the following days. The entirety of ETH was successfully withdrawn by Crypto.com and returned to our cold storage. The team at Gate.io assisted us by increasing our daily withdrawal limits with them. Fund movements from Crypto.com custody systems are only possible between approved and whitelisted addresses attached to our cold wallets, our hot wallets, and our corporate accounts at 3rd party exchanges. In this particular case the whitelisted address belonged to one of our corporate accounts in a 3rd party exchange instead of our cold wallet. We have since strengthened our processes and systems to better manage these internal transfers.”

In light of the recent FTX implosion, the crypto community is concerned that some crypto exchanges like Gate.io and Crypto.com appear to be faking their reserves.

Community concerns were triggered when a Twitter user highlighted a transfer of 320,000 ETH from Crypto.com to a Gate.io address.

Etherscan data, as cited by Conor, showed that Crypto.com sent the funds to Gate.io on Oct. 21 while Gate.io sent back 285k ETH within a week. He noted that both the sender and receiving addresses were connected to Crypto.com.

It was supposed to be a move to a new cold storage address, but was sent to a whitelisted external exchange address. We worked with Gate team and the funds were subsequently returned to our cold storage. New process and features were implemented to prevent this from reoccurring.

— Kris | Crypto.com (@kris) November 13, 2022

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However, the CEO of the exchange, Kris Marszalek,explainedthat the transfer was a mistake. He claimed they were supposed to be transferred to another cold wallet but instead sent to a whitelisted external wallet.

Marszalek added that “the funds were subsequently returned to our cold storage. New processes and features were implemented to prevent this from reoccurring.”

Community Questions Crypto.com’s Explanation

Meanwhile, many in the crypto community find Crypto.com CEO’s excuse questionable and believe that the transfers might be connected to the exchange lying about its reserve.

The CEO of Crypto(.)com says they accidentally sent $400 million $ETH to the wrong wallet address.

Wildly irresponsible.

Get off these platforms. pic.twitter.com/SABIZPEYWZ

— Dylan LeClair 🟠 (@DylanLeClair_) November 13, 2022

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Adam Cochranhighlighted that there were some gaps in Crypto.com’s proof of assets, that the CEO ought to address. Cochran continued that “the answer of “wait for our audit” isn’t good enough. If the assets are there, this should be fairly simple to point to even 80% of these assets to assure users in the meantime. Understand people have reason to be concerned and ask questions in this environment!”

Popular Crypto influencer Ben Armstrong (BitBoy)said he was withdrawing all his assets from Crypto.com and advised others to do the same. According to him, the recent spate of events has taught him the importance of self-custody.

If an exchange have to move large amounts of crypto before or after they demonstrate their wallet addresses, it is a clear sign of problems. Stay away. Stay #SAFU. 🙏

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 13, 2022

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao also weighed into the situation, saying that an exchange that moves large amounts of crypto before or after its proof-of-reserve is a “clear sign of problems.”

Meanwhile, Crypto.com CEO hascriticizedthe rumors about the exchange, saying that people should focus instead on businesses that had ties with FTX.

Huobi is Under Spotlight too

Wu Blockchainreportedthat after Huobi released the snapshots of its asset reserve, 10,000 ETH was transferred from Huobi 34 wallet to Binance and OKX addresses. The Huobi 34, which had over 14k ETH at the time of the snapshot, now has only 4,004 ETH.

In this SPECIFIC instance, the funds in 0xCAc7…c3Fc mostly came from 0x1870…a12e, another Huobi address. Given that both addresses were in the snapshot, it's unlikely the funds were used to inflate the proof-of-reserveshttps://t.co/H9OiZAeWPZhttps://t.co/ByviUtchwF https://t.co/vetIJ8SBB7 pic.twitter.com/qNjMuX2pib

— samczsun (@samczsun) November 13, 2022

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But Paradigm researcher Sam hasclarifiedthat the funds in the Huobi 34 wallet came from another Huobi address, and both were in the snapshot. So, it was unlikely that they used the funds to inflate the PoR.

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Crypto Exchanges Gate.io and Crypto.com Reportedly Faking Proof of Reserves (2024)

FAQs

Is crypto com proof of reserves? ›

Crypto.com's PoR verification page makes it easy for you to ensure that your funds are safely held 1:1 in reserve by Crypto.com. This video explains how to verify your funds in just a few clicks.

Is Gate.io trustworthy? ›

gate.io has number of trading pairs including bitcoin, ethereum and stablecoins. it is safe and secure to store your funds in exchange wallet without and hesitation of security.

Is crypto.com fake? ›

Crypto.com has top-notch security, but it isn't perfect. Here are a few things to be aware of when using Crypto.com: Crypto is not FDIC-insured. If Crypto.com goes bankrupt and can't pay you the crypto it owes you, then there is no one to bail you out.

Is it safe to store crypto on gate io? ›

Gate.io is one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges to store digital assets. It is safer to store digital assets in cold wallets than hot wallets.

How to verify proof of reserves? ›

Verification Process
  1. Verify Ownership of Address. For assets that are used to verify reserves, we must ensure that ownership of the wallet belongs to Binance (including cold and hot wallet).
  2. Snapshot of User Balances. ...
  3. Generate zk-SNARKs Proof. ...
  4. Generation of Merkle Tree.

Does Coinbase use proof of reserve? ›

As a public company, Coinbase already proves its reserves through rigorous accounting supported by a strong control environment.

Is Gate.io allowed in the US? ›

Gate.io is a global platform but it isn't available in the US. In March 2022, the business launched the website for Gate US, which will offer many of the same trading features as its parent platform. There's no official launch date as of yet and the website only states that it is "coming soon".

Is Gate.io a Chinese company? ›

Gate.io started its journey in 2013 under a different name - Bter.com. The exchange was originally based in China but moved headquarters in 2017 after China banned initial coin offerings and fiat-to-crypto trading. The platform relaunched as Gate.io, shifting focus to crypto-to-crypto trading.

Is Gate.io licensed in the US? ›

Gate. io's United States subsidiary, Gate US, announced on Monday that it had received multiple state licenses, thus gaining permission to operate a crypto exchange in a larger part of the country.

Is Crypto.com shutting down? ›

On 14 November, Marszalek, the firm's CEO, assured users that the exchange was functioning as normal. On June 9, 2023, Crypto.com announced plans to shut down its institutional exchange in the United States by June 21, citing low demand from large financial institutions.

Is crypto com in any danger? ›

Linking your bank account to your Crypto.com account is generally considered safe. The platform uses advanced encryption and security protocols to protect your financial information. However, as with any online financial transaction, there are inherent risks.

What is the safest crypto exchange? ›

Top Crypto Exchanges
ExchangesSECURITY RATING
1Crypto.com ExchangeAAA
2KrakenAAA
3WhiteBITAAA
4CryptologyAAA
116 more rows

Is Gate.io a crypto exchange? ›

Gateway to Crypto

Established in 2013, Gate.io has consistently ranked among the top 10 exchanges.

Are my funds insured on Crypto com? ›

The Insurance Fund represents the total amount of Liquidation Fees maintained by Crypto.com. It is designed to cover losses from traders where the Wallet Balance is less than 0 USD after all liquidations have occurred under Forced Liquidation. In these cases, the Insurance Fund will be used to cover these losses.

What is proof of funds in crypto com? ›

Proof of Source of Funds should be a document that displays from where the funds used to fund your Crypto.com account have originated. In cases of large Crypto deposits, we require proof and explanations of how and when the Crypto assets were obtained.

Is crypto com funds protected? ›

100% of user cryptocurrency assets are safely held and fully backed 1:1. We hold all customer assets deposited on our platform in institutional-grade reserve accounts on a 1:1 basis, meaning funds are responsibly backed by Crypto.com and accessible at customers' convenience.

How financially secure is crypto com? ›

Linking your bank account to your Crypto.com account is generally considered safe. The platform uses advanced encryption and security protocols to protect your financial information. However, as with any online financial transaction, there are inherent risks.

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