Proof-of-Reserves Concept Gains Traction as Major Crypto Exchanges Provide Wallet Lists and Promise Full Audits

When it was first discovered that FTX might be insolvent, a large slew of crypto exchange executives said that they aimed to provide proof-of-reserves audits. While exchanges like Binance and Crypto.com have provided wallet addresses tied to company wallets, blockchain analytics firm Nansen has detailed the company is in the midst of creating a display of crypto exchange proof-of-reserves.

Three days ago, amid the chaos surrounding FTX, a group of crypto exchange executives detailed that they planned to provide proof-of-reserves via a Merkle tree and full audits. Following the discussions, Binance disclosed the company’s hot and cold wallet addresses and Crypto.com’s CEO Kris Marszalek shared his firm’s addresses.

The blockchain analytics firm Nansen has gotten involved and the company is building a proof-of-reserves dashboard to display exchange reserves. “We are working with exchanges to display proof-of-reserves on [Nansen] for everyone to track their token holdings and transactions,” Nansen detailed on Nov. 11.

Nansen shared a current list of exchange portfolios and said that it would update the thread when more exchanges joined. So far, the thread includes exchanges such as Binance, Crypto.com, Okx, Kucoin, and Deribit. Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino has also shared Bitfinex’s reserve list as well, alongside a Github repo that hosts the trading platform’s addresses.

“Bitfinex also developed in the past an open-source library called Antani,” Ardoino added. “Proof of Solvency, Custody and Off-chain Delegated Proof of Vote. We plan to revive it and have a way for users to cryptographically verify their balances respecting their privacy.”

In addition to Crypto.com, Okx, Kucoin, Binance, Bitfinex, and Deribit, the crypto exchange Bybit promises to release proof-of-reserves. Cake Defi has also provided a compiled list of reserves as well. Reports further note that Huobi and Poloniex have plans to share proof-of-reserves.

Exchanges listed on Nic Carter’s proof-of-reserves list or “Wall of Fame,” include Kraken, Bitmex, Nexo, Coinfloor, HBTC, Gate.io, and Ledn. Coinfloor, HBTC, Gate.io, and Ledn’s reserve assessments are older than Kraken and Bitmex’s. Nic Carter’s proof-of-reserves list says Nexo provides daily attestations.

What do you think about all the crypto exchanges providing proof-of-reserves lists and promising audits and attestations in the near future? Let us know your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.