Bybit releases reserve wallet addresses amid calls for transparency

Crypto exchange Bybit publicly released the addresses of its largest crypto wallets on Nov. 16. This came on the heels of FTX’s collapse and calls within the industry for greater transparency. Bybit listed the addresses in a press release.

Nansen also produced a dashboard of Bybit’s wallets which indicated that over $1 billion of the exchange’s assets are in BTC, USDT, ETH, and USDC. In the press release, the company claimed that these assets represent over 85% of the total cryptocurrency held by the exchange.

1) Disclosing Bybit main users asset wallets (excluding other assets and non consolidated wallets are too many to list ~+20%). Around $1.9B. Bybit is also working on POR solutions such as Merkel Tree on UID level. https://t.co/fAszQVKNJF

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) November 16, 2022

The crypto market has experienced a crisis as FTX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by volume, has been unable to process withdrawals and has filed for bankruptcy. In the wake of this crisis, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has advocated for all exchanges to create a Proof of Reserves protocol that will prove to the community their assets are equal to or greater than their liabilities.

Bybit’s release of wallet addresses is not a Proof of Reserve because it doesn’t provide a Merkle Tree of the exchange’s liabilities to customers. However, releasing the wallet addresses is a precondition of creating a Proof of Reserve later, if Bybit chooses to do so.

In the press release, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that the exchange is committed to ensuring transparency in the future, saying "We believe that exchanges must be proactive in creating a new type of transparency." He continued:

“We must improve on all financial models to deliver the promise of blockchain technology, which is real-time, instant, and verifiable information about assets and liabilities held by all actors in the space — and this is what we are determined to deliver.”