The winners of the crypto winter?
In November 2021, the crypto market capitalization reached an all-time high of $3 trillion. Amid rising inflation and uncertain geopolitical conditions, cryptocurrencies have lost more than $2 trillion in market value over the past eight months. Analysts termed the latest market plunge as one of the worst “crypto winters” of all time. The crypto chaos was so intense that it forced some of the leading names such as Three Arrows Capital and Celsius to file for bankruptcy. However, there have been some winners as well.
FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, is one of the biggest winners of the last crypto winter. With the acquisition of Liquid Group, Good Luck Games, Bitvo and the recent deal with BlockFi, the crypto exchange has made the $2 trillion crypto route a buying opportunity. With billions of dollars in cash, FTX is still looking for additional acquisitions. In a discussion with Reuters last month, Bankman-Fried said the company still has a decent amount of cash to bail out businesses struggling in the crypto ecosystem. FTX reported a whopping 1,000% jump in revenue last year as the figure rose from $89 million in 2020 to over $1 billion in 2021.
Binance, on the other hand, has been quietly strengthening its position in the digital asset world over the past crypto winter. Binance recently overtook Coinbase as the exchange with the largest Bitcoin holdings. While laying off roughly 18% of its global workforce, Binance announced the opening of nearly 2,000 positions and significantly expanded its operations in recent weeks.
“Deep Pockets”
According to Marc P. Bernegger, co-founder of Crypto Fund AltAlpha Digital, both FTX and Binance have “very deep pockets” with billions in cash. The Swiss entrepreneur added that the acquisition strategy of FTX and Binance is helping their expansion.
“After the last massive crypto crash, we are seeing a market consolidation. Incumbents like Binance and FTX with very deep pockets are taking advantage of this development and are actively looking to acquire struggling competitors and expand their product offerings, Bernegger said.
Earlier this year, Binance announced a strategic investment worth 200 million dollars in Forbes.
Robust ecosystems
Parsa Abbasi, co-founder and CTO of LivelyVerse.io, believes that the native tokens of FTX and Binance play a big role in the growth of both companies. He added that FTX and Binance have outperformed US-based crypto trading platforms because regulatory pressure on digital assets based outside the US is less compared to platforms such as Coinbase.
“Both FTX and Binance also have very robust ecosystems based on their native tokens, which generally power their blockchain infrastructure. Considering that the digital currency ecosystem focuses on innovative infrastructures in the crypto winter, Coinbase has nothing to bring to the table when it comes to Defi and the NFT tool other than its role as a trading platform. As a listed market, Coinbase stock is also notably shorted and has been on a downtrend compared to the mainstream stock market indices,” Abbasi said.
Binance Coin (BNB) currently has a market cap of $42 billion.
Strong business models
A wide range of product offerings, well-balanced business models and acquisition strategies have enabled Binance and FTX to accelerate growth even in a challenging cryptocurrency market.
“Binance hits the top both strategically business wise and product wise – with the need to convey its interests with authorities and regulations, the company keeps a strong focus on the users and key values in the decentralized crypto world. The incredible success story is behind Binance. It emerged as a mega crypto market giant with large capitalization in just five years. The main reasons are wise management and a proper business model, and I am quite sure that Binance will continue its prominent growth, said Ilman Shazhaev, CEO of Farcana.
The success of FTX and Binance is not an overnight story. Both companies developed strong business models along with effective marketing strategies to take advantage of the growing crypto interest worldwide. In June 2022, Binance entered into a sponsorship deal with Cristiano Ronaldo. Earlier this year, the digital asset exchange announced a collaboration with the GRAMMY Awards. Over the past few years, Binance and FTX have hired regulatory experts to develop trading products according to regulations in different regions. In April 2022, Binance announced the appointment of Steven McWhirter, a former FCA regulator, as the company’s Director of Regulatory Policy. The crypto holding strategy of both firms also helped them save a few “billions” for the rainy days.
In November 2021, the crypto market capitalization reached an all-time high of $3 trillion. Amid rising inflation and uncertain geopolitical conditions, cryptocurrencies have lost more than $2 trillion in market value over the past eight months. Analysts termed the latest market plunge as one of the worst “crypto winters” of all time. The crypto chaos was so intense that it forced some of the leading names such as Three Arrows Capital and Celsius to file for bankruptcy. However, there have been some winners as well.
FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, is one of the biggest winners of the last crypto winter. With the acquisition of Liquid Group, Good Luck Games, Bitvo and the recent deal with BlockFi, the crypto exchange has made the $2 trillion crypto route a buying opportunity. With billions of dollars in cash, FTX is still looking for additional acquisitions. In a discussion with Reuters last month, Bankman-Fried said the company still has a decent amount of cash to bail out businesses struggling in the crypto ecosystem. FTX reported a whopping 1,000% jump in revenue last year as the figure rose from $89 million in 2020 to over $1 billion in 2021.
Binance, on the other hand, has been quietly strengthening its position in the digital asset world over the past crypto winter. Binance recently overtook Coinbase as the exchange with the largest Bitcoin holdings. While laying off roughly 18% of its global workforce, Binance announced the opening of nearly 2,000 positions and significantly expanded its operations in recent weeks.
“Deep Pockets”
According to Marc P. Bernegger, co-founder of Crypto Fund AltAlpha Digital, both FTX and Binance have “very deep pockets” with billions in cash. The Swiss entrepreneur added that the acquisition strategy of FTX and Binance is helping their expansion.
“After the last massive crypto crash, we are seeing a market consolidation. Incumbents like Binance and FTX with very deep pockets are taking advantage of this development and are actively looking to acquire struggling competitors and expand their product offerings, Bernegger said.
Earlier this year, Binance announced a strategic investment worth 200 million dollars in Forbes.
Robust ecosystems
Parsa Abbasi, co-founder and CTO of LivelyVerse.io, believes that the native tokens of FTX and Binance play a big role in the growth of both companies. He added that FTX and Binance have outperformed US-based crypto trading platforms because regulatory pressure on digital assets based outside the US is less compared to platforms such as Coinbase.
“Both FTX and Binance also have very robust ecosystems based on their native tokens, which generally power their blockchain infrastructure. Considering that the digital currency ecosystem focuses on innovative infrastructures in the crypto winter, Coinbase has nothing to bring to the table when it comes to Defi and the NFT tool other than its role as a trading platform. As a listed market, Coinbase stock is also notably shorted and has been on a downtrend compared to the mainstream stock market indices,” Abbasi said.
Binance Coin (BNB) currently has a market cap of $42 billion.
Strong business models
A wide range of product offerings, well-balanced business models and acquisition strategies have enabled Binance and FTX to accelerate growth even in a challenging cryptocurrency market.
“Binance hits the top both strategically business wise and product wise – with the need to convey its interests with authorities and regulations, the company keeps a strong focus on the users and key values in the decentralized crypto world. The incredible success story is behind Binance. It emerged as a mega crypto market giant with large capitalization in just five years. The main reasons are wise management and a proper business model, and I am quite sure that Binance will continue its prominent growth, said Ilman Shazhaev, CEO of Farcana.
The success of FTX and Binance is not an overnight story. Both companies developed strong business models along with effective marketing strategies to take advantage of the growing crypto interest worldwide. In June 2022, Binance entered into a sponsorship deal with Cristiano Ronaldo. Earlier this year, the digital asset exchange announced a collaboration with the GRAMMY Awards. Over the past few years, Binance and FTX have hired regulatory experts to develop trading products according to regulations in different regions. In April 2022, Binance announced the appointment of Steven McWhirter, a former FCA regulator, as the company’s Director of Regulatory Policy. The crypto holding strategy of both firms also helped them save a few “billions” for the rainy days.
