Topic: CZ Sentenced, Your Bitcoin in their Custody - page 2. (Read 1308 times)

Binance is still by far the best exchange out there, I think it's almost normal that, of course, is the number one target of the governments. I never understood when people was saying that the US would make Binance close, that's exactly the reason they created Binance.us, to avoid any problem with all the crazy US regulations and the SEC, that keeps attacking everything that has to do with cryptos.

We keep all hope alive to reach the top and also bend down to show hard workings for ourselves. Some developing countries have issues with Binance and we've watch where that have led us to. We should always provide means to sort ourselves out because none of us will become very focused when our goals start hitting targets. It still bothers me how Binance is been linked with one problem and another. It have entangled with one problem or the other.

If there is a crime, there should be punishment. If a mistake has been made, there must be a response. Since Bitcoin is not tied to a person or exchange, it will always continue on its way. Such events do not pose a threat to Bitcoin's existence, they just slow down its progress.

There is nothing to worry about and such events can happen at any time. Bitcoin is not weak enough to be affected by such situations. Paying attention to the exchanges you use and how you store your coins is something every investor should do.

It's true that we shouldn't store our assets on centralized exchanges but I don't see any connection between CZ going to jail and storing assets. In addition, comparing FTX with Binance or CZ with SAM is also quite lame, why did FTX collapse, then SAM went to jail and CZ went to jail but binance still dominates the cryptocurrency market? This is really a lame and somewhat unfair comparison for Binance as they always try to do their best and customers are always satisfied with them, while FTX was previously a scammer with a plan.

I'm not defending anyone or encouraging anyone to store their bitcoins on centralized exchanges but we should evaluate things fairly and clearly. By the way, are you sure you're not using binance or any centralized exchange?

Well, I believe that many exchanges are afraid now to avoid suffering the same fate that Binance is suffering at the hands of the Nigerian government, especially the way they abducted their executives in a very shameful manner. Going forward, many exchanges will delist the P2P activities on their system but many will still dare the government and continue to offer such a service. To me, I see P2P as no trouble at all, only that our government is just looking for what to blame as usual. Even if the centralised exchanges stopped the P2P service, what about the decentralised exchanges, will they enforce such a law and instil the same fear in them as well? That will not work because even if they block them through the ISPs in the country which they have a say over, we will definitely switch to VPN usage and it will be business as usual for us all. I will not be a party to the exchanging of my cryptocurrency through the local exchanges as the government wants, that will only amount to extortion even as the government doesn't care about anyone in my country but themselves.

As for the Binance issue with them, well, Binance continues to talk softly about this and claims they are ever cooperative but our government is proving stubborn. They are being stubborn about what they will lose financially entirely upon if care is not taken. The CEO of Binance even graced an interview with PunchNG a few days ago and the guy was brilliant in his remarks. He alleged the government demanded a bribe of $150m from Binance to trash the case, which I believe since this is the way of our government. The Nigerian government is so unwise and I don't see Binance accepting the NGN service anymore, at least until there is a change in government.

I believe it is the same with other fiat currencies. They removed them according to the government's mandate.A lot of traders are actually using the p2p services of binance because of the credibility of the platform. Now, these people need to find alternative trustworthy p2p platforms.
However, I highly believe that binance management is working on complying the regulations of those countries, in prder to get those traders back.

There's no doubt about that. CEXs come and go, but crypto/Blockchain tech persists due to its decentralized design. 50% market dominance still makes a difference. One would hope those numbers decline as new competitors get in the game. The less influence an exchange has over the crypto market, the better. Binance might survive after CZ's departure, though. Only time will tell. As long as they're able to please the regulators, nothing else matters.

All in all, Self-custody is the way to go. Especially with many incidents surrounding centralized exchanges lately. Maybe CEXs will adopt a hybrid model (half decentralized, half centralized) to help increase confidence/trust among traders and investors alike?

We are still saying the same thing and what you explained still means that Binance has issues with Nigeria since the stances and policies of the government make Nigeria and whatever is happening in it or related to it. As for the OKX, I received the news with a heavy heart, but according to the latest meeting with the new SEC's DG, I realised that it has a presence in Nigeria, unlike Binance. And according to the Punch newspaper today, it was one of the stakeholders that joined the virtual meeting with the DG and it was claimed that OKX did not stop the P2P on their platform by force or threat but for solidarity with the government.

But I still wonder what that solidarity is for. Maybe it's because they have a presence in the country and want to obey the law of the land. But I doubt if some of the other exchanges will yield unless they sue them. Let's see how that unfolded over time. However the issue of Binance with the government is far different from that of the OKX with the government, you can't just compare that.

Binance doesn't have any issue with our country. It's just this present administration that has an issue with Binance and cryptocurrencies in general. I believe you would've realized that now and with the OKX thing too. I believe this attitude is likely to spread to many more exchanges. If Binance had an issue with Nigeria, it would've frozen assets belonging to Nigerians on its platform long time ago. Nigerians still can trade their cryptos on Binance till date. It's just that we can't convert to the local naira. That's all. This shows that government was the one that asked Binance to remove the naira pair on its P2P. It's the same naira pair removal thing on OKX.

Surprised he was only jailed for four months, people who have dealt with the same crime for less than the amount involved in this case get years and years, and this is after they have paid their fines too, which I believe ChangPeng did before in hopes of not facing jail time.

In that regard, you're right this goes to show that just keeping your money in exchange wallets are a massive death sentence, we're only able to survive by the skin of our teeth this time because Binance is secured financially and would not lose to bank runs and stuff like these. If it was a different exchange, (as evident with FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried who is jailed for 25 years) we would've been fucked sideways lol.

Anywho, hope this becomes a wakeup call for the newbies and people who are like me once upon a time, die-hard fans of Binance and internet protector of CZ to maybe check and transfer all their assets in their cold wallets.

If I remember correctly, binance's dominance is still over 50% in the market, I don't think they will lose their dominance anytime soon. They are still doing very well compared to other exchanges even though they no longer have CZ. And even if Binance loses its dominance or disappears, there will be another centralized exchange to replace it. Complete elimination of CEX is impossible, and they will increasingly dominate this market as government regulations are enacted. I don't think the idea of a completely decentralized market is possible.

Of course. Decentralization is the way. We can't patronize monopolies in the crypto/Blockchain space. The less power/influence CEXs have over the industry, the better. Binance dominated the market for long with its shady practices. Now it's ultimately paying the price. I don't think it will go away that easily, but we can say its dominance is diminishing by the day. Especially with CZ out of the picture.

I'm yet to see if BNB (powered by BSC) will survive. It's been having a hard time trying to attract new projects into it. Solana and Ethereum are leading the race. If Binance exchange fails, you can say bye-bye to BNB for good. Who knows what surprises we'll find in the future?

Some might have the wrong mindset that it's not safe if it's not in your custody, I agree but that doesn't mean every exchange will manipulate your assets. Some are gently running taking proper precautions to protect funds, they ensure funds are SAFU that's where a new concept like the Reserve Fund derived. Exchanges like Bitget have insured users' assets through another layer of security of the User Protection Fund. Hence it also depends on the factor which exchange are you using and if it's well protected.

With all of the ETFs and mass adoption at this point in all other countries with ETFs and just Bitcoin in general more and more people are new to the game and I don’t think many of them recognize the importance of securing your coins and even keeping them off exchanges. If you do keep on an exchange hopefully it won’t be there for too long- and to your point using an exchange just like basically puts you right in view, finding out how to be more anonymous with Bitcoin will hopefully become less complex to the average user with time as new solutions unfold.

Imho people don't want to admit it because they are often hypocrites. It's against whole cypherpunk ethos to use highly centralized services. While they like to preach about decentralization and privacy it's shameful to admit that they actually use them for fiat ramps, or what ever reason. Might be liquidity too, but i don't see that as a huge problem for big tokens. Unless they are whales that is.

It's also convenient, as they can provide the level of security that would cost an individual a fortune. And people can often access to their CEX account even if they lose the password and 2fa and phone. In comparison, losing your own privatekey is game over for your funds. And many of us lose their important stuff all the time.

And like you said. Cexes are cheap. Especially if you are dealing with eth or something like that. If you aren't rich, it might not be worth it to withdraw them or god forbid use dex for buying and selling. And saving too much money with those can become even more expensive when sales aren't going trough.

Centralized exchanges work under government regulations, and the government is fine with that, they give them the info they want and the government do not usually try to close down services like that. Centralized exchanges are charged when they do not comply with government regulations, especially on kyc/aml or if they are accused of fraud or related offences.

Take note that so many people use centralized exchanges because it is 'convenient' for them, however p2p exchanges offer better privacy and security, but both centralized and decentralized exchanges are going to co-exist.

I'm sorry but I don't understand your point: are you implying that Binance is just a cover for money laundering? The whole exchange has been created with that idea? They make billions just from the commissions, without even considering all the other revenues, CZ is a multibillionaire thanks to BTC and BNB, which is directly linked to the exchange, why should he (or whoever is in control) keep doing something illegal when you are already making a ton of money legally? Back in the days the exchanges took the rules very lightly, now they are paying, but that doesn't mean they keep doing it. Of course it's impossible to completely prevent money laundering but at least they are trying to limit the operations as much as they can.

That's because it can be easily done, and people trust centralized exchanges more because they are supervised by the government, especially institutional investors and or new investors who have just jumped in, they will always use CEX compared to DEX, the easy choice is that they can withdraw their money to their own bank account, I heard that from my friend who has only been a crypto investor for 1 year.

Some other people they store their BTC in CEX only temporarily and keep it in their personal wallet if they aim for long-term investment, the average person using CEX is day traders or other short-term because maybe for them it is much easier than using DEX, of course this goes back to their respective knowledge.

BTW 4 months jail is not a punishment in my opinion, it's more like a temporary exile.

The liquidity on DEX is very small and insignificant compared to CEX so it can be said that there are still some users using DEX, but what I don't understand is why so many people lie about their use of CEX? Using CEX doesn't make us criminals, why don't we dare admit we use them?

I do not deny the risks of using CEX, but we should also not deny that CEX provides us with many features and services that are completely superior to DEX. As I said in addition to privacy protection, DEX cannot be compared with CEX in terms of transaction fees, transaction speed...and many other useful services.

On the contrary, I personally believe that the majority are using CEX more than DEX, only a small number of users are using DEX and the majority are bitcoin maximalists.

If the government are thinking about attacking the exchanges, then i don't think we should have an issue with that, because we had never wanted to have the use of centralized exchanges in the first place for our privacy and safety of our coin, all we wanted is to make use of a decentralized exchange and that is all, we are going to have full control over our asset and exchange it with the use of p2p, i don't know why many feels more comfortable with the use of a centralized exchange in the first place.