5 FTX alternatives you can invest with amid the current FTX crisis

The once cryptocurrency exchange giant FTX is facing an uncertain future following the current liquidity crunch and financial instability. The situation escalated after Binance backed out of a nonbinding agreement to buy out FTX.

According to sources familiar with the developments, Binance pulls out of its intent to take over FTX after going through its financial books.

The ongoing FTX crisis has pushed thousands of customers to withdraw their funds from the exchange in a bid to avoid having funds locked in the exchange in the event that it collapses completely. But where do you go after leaving FTX?

Best FTX alternatives

Here are the top 5 FTX alternatives that investors can invest with. In case you are looking for a particular crypto exchange that is not included in the list below, you can check out our full suite of broker reviews here.

1. Binance

Binance had a strategic investment in FTX in 2019. In the past few days, it has been embroidered in the FTX crisis and at some point offered to takeover FTX although it has since backed out of the deal. Binance itself operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume making it one of the top choices for investors.

 2. Coinbase

Coinbase offers a cryptocurrency trading and investing platform enabling users to buy, sell, and exchange over 170 cryptocurrencies Including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. It is the largest US-based crypto exchange and it also became the first publicly traded crypto exchange last year after direct listing on the Nasdaq exchange. It can be a good choice for active traders interested in trading and storing multiple cryptocurrencies.

 3. Gemini

Gemini is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange based in New York and available in all states in the US. With industry-leading security features, its own hot wallet, a beginner-friendly platform, robust educational resources, and a comprehensive support centre, Gemini can be a good choice for both beginners and experienced traders.

4. Kraken

Kraken is a United States–based cryptocurrency exchange and bank, founded in 2011. In September 2020, Kraken was granted a special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter in Wyoming, becoming the first crypto exchange to hold such a charter in the United States. It was one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal and was valued at $10.8 billion USD by mid-summer 2022. The exchange is quite established making it a good choice for investors.

 5. KuCoin

KuCoin is a secure cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 700+ altcoins. It is a Seychelles-based crypto exchange launched in 2017. Founded as “the people’s exchange,” KuCoin’s rich set of features and low fees make it a compelling choice for advanced crypto investors, particularly outside the US.

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BlockFi reopens Interest Yield Product for accredited US investors

Crypto lending platform BlockFi in a press release on November 7 stated that it will reopen the BlockFi Yield, an interest-bearing digital asset account, by the end of 2022 to US accredited investors.

The Beta version will be available to first select US investors starting at the end of the year. The product will afterwards be available to all US clients at the start of 2023 allowing investors to earn interest on digital assets.

The BlockFi Yield offers competitive interest rates on digital assets with no minimum investment requirement. To access the product, however, US investors will require to complete an investor accreditation process.

So far BlockFi has paid out more than $600 million in interest since it began offering BlockFi Yield.

BlockFi had initially suspended the product in the US

In February this year, BlockFi stopped offering BlockFi Yield to US clients after the US SEC accused the firm of failing to register the product. BlockFi was fined a total of $100 million by the SEC and state regulators which BlockFi agreed to pay. BlockFi has also agreed to stop opening new US accounts.

The charge against BlockcFi came right on the heels of the collapse of Voyager and Celsius, which necessitated scrutiny of the crypto space.

To remain operational in the extended crypto winter, BlockFi laid off about 20% of its workforce, reduced marketing expenses, reduced the salaries of executives, and also removed non-essential vendors. BlockFi also secured $250 million from the currently embattled FTX exchange, as reported in previous news here, in revolving credit.

In preparation for the reopening of the product to US customers, the founder and COO of BlockFi, Flori Marquez, said that the crypto lender is working on having the product registered with the SEC before offering it to the public.

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Crypto market maker Wintermute has funds stuck on FTX

Crypto market maker Wintermute has confirmed that it has funds stuck in the embattled crypto exchange FTX. However, the firm has said that the amount of funds held in the exchange is not much and they are within their risk tolerance.

Wintermute further said that the funds will not impact its overall financial standings. The firm said that it has put in place risk controls and efforts to remove some of the funds from the exchange prior to the collapse although some funds still remain.

In a tweet Wintermute said:

“We do have remaining funds on FTX, and while this is not ideal, the amount is within our risk tolerances and does not have a significant impact on our overall financial position.”

Firms allay fears of exposure to FTX

As reported in our earlier news, Coinbase, Tether, and Circle have come out to assure their customers that they are not exposed in any way to either FTX or its sister firm Alameda Research after FTX announced plans to sell itself to Binance in the wake of liquidity crunch.

While Wintermute said that it has funds stuck in FTX, it, however, clarified that it has no exposure on FTX’s native token FTT whose price has drastically dropped since the whole FTX saga started.

Wintermute said:

“As a market-neutral trading firm, we do not have any directional exposure to FTT tokens or related ecosystem assets.”

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Coinbase, Tether, and Circle deny exposure to Alameda and FTX

Several crypto firms have come out to distance themselves with exposure to FTX crypto exchange and its sister firm Alameda amid the financial crisis facing the two firms. This comes after calls from the crypto community for transparency to let users know if there is any risk.

Tether’s Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino has come out to clarify via Twitter that the Stablecoin issuer does not have exposure to either FTX or Alameda. Replying to Wu Blockchain’s tweet that said “Circle and Tether should disclose more of their financial relationship with FTX Alameda to let users know if it’s a risk,” Paolo tweeted said:

“To be clear: #Tether does not have any exposure to FTX or Alameda. 0. Null. Maybe is time to look elsewhere. Sorry guys. Try again.”

Similarly Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire took to Twitter to clarify that Circle also does not have any exposure to FTX or Alameda. In his tweet, Jeremy said:

“Circle has no material exposure to FTX and Alameda.  FTX has been a customer of Circle Payment APIs for the past 18 months, providing card and ACH services for customer transactions.  Circle’s crypto payments beta product uses FTX and other exchanges, for BTC/ETH liquidity.”

Coinbase confirms no exposure despite its shares dropping

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, also took the opportunity to assure customers that the crypto exchange has no material exposure to FTX crypto exchange or its native token FTT. The exchange tweeted saying:

“Second, Coinbase doesn’t have any material exposure to FTX or FTT (and no exposure to Alameda).”

Despite the assurance from the exchange’s CEO, Coinbase’s shares started the day with a −1.75 (3.45%) drop.

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Solana (SOL) Can’t Recover From the Crypto Crash as Metacade (MCADE) Presale Is Gaining Interest

The 2022 crypto crash has been especially unkind to some of crypto’s more speculative projects, like Solana (SOL). Facing stiff competition and several fundamental issues, Solana has struggled to maintain any bullishness over the past few months. But while the crypto crash rages on, one new token is rising up from the ashes.

It’s called Metacade (MCADE), and it could be the best project primed to take advantage of GameFi’s growth in the coming years. Today, we’re going to break down what’s happening to Solana, and why you should start considering Metacade as a serious contender to add to your portfolio.

Solana (SOL) Faces Repeated Outages and Price Declines Amid Crypto Crash

Solana (SOL) is one of the leading Ethereum rivals on the market today. It’s one of the fastest blockchains in crypto, using an impressive combination of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and Proof-of-History (PoH) to achieve speeds of 3500 transactions per second (TPS) without breaking a sweat. In theory, this can rise to 710,000, according to Solana’s documentation. When compared to Ethereum’s 30 TPS, it’s easy to see why Solana quickly climbed the ranks in 2021. 

Despite these incredible transaction speeds, Solana hasn’t been without its issues. This year alone, Solana has had six outages, one lasting a whole week in early January. Alongside 2022’s broader crypto crash, these outages have been the catalyst for some major price drops. After the week-long outage began on the 6th of January, SOL declined nearly -23% to its low on the 10th of January. After another outage plagued the blockchain on the 21st of January, SOL fell another -37% to find support three days later.

Since then, SOL’s price has remained subdued following a larger crypto crash. It’s currently worth $29, having failed to break higher than $49 during August’s bullish price action. With the month-long area of support at $30 traded through, Solana is now hovering around June’s low of $26.

What is Metacade (MCADE)?

Metacade is an up-and-coming project that’s aiming to be a disruptive force in the gaming industry. Metacade is a community hub where GameFi and crypto enthusiasts go to find the best Play2Earn games, earn more from their passion, and connect with like-minded individuals. Metacade’s ultimate goal is to be the world’s first player-owned virtual arcade where you direct the future of gaming, not out-of-touch game studios. 

To build this vision, Metacade is operating on a model that rewards players for their role in the community while using the collective’s power to generate some of the best Play2Earn and Web3 games the industry has ever seen.

Why is Metacade (MCADE) Expected to Outperform the Market?

While the crypto crash rages on, Metacade is positioning itself to quickly dominate the market during the next bull run. As mentioned, Metacade intends to attract players by rewarding them for doing what they already love to do. Every time you post a review, share some leading GameFi alpha, or participate in game testing, you’re rewarded with the MCADE token. If you’re already an avid GameFi enthusiast, then you can boost your income by simply sharing your thoughts and expertise on your favourite games! 

Metacade’s vision is that this will turn the community into a melting pot of ideas where developers and players are closely intertwined. Metacade plans to introduce a funding program called Metagrants, where game developers post their ideas for the Metacade community to vote for the project they want to see built. The winner receives funding from the treasury and can even receive instant, actionable feedback on their prototype using the platform’s native testing environment.

As part of Metacade’s goal to help players earn more from GameFi, they’ll also host exclusive tournaments for anyone to win big prizes. But even better than that, Metacade plans to launch a job board in 2024 that might one day help someone find their big break in the nascent Web3 industry. Careers aren’t the only thing you’ll find here, however; there’ll also be plenty of casual gigs, like one-off testing jobs, that players can pick up for a few hours to give their regular income a boost.

Eventually, Metacade will be handing over the keys to the Metacade collective by forming a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO). The most valued members will be offered leadership positions to guide Metacade into the future. This will allow MCADE holders to vote on leadership roles, implementation of features, treasury allocations, and more, leading to an entirely self-sufficient ecosystem built by gamers, for gamers.  

Solana (SOL) vs. Metacade (MCADE) – Which Is the Better Investment?

As mentioned, Solana has had a rough time in the recent crypto crash. But outages are the least of its worries. As recently as October the 12th, Solana-based DeFi platform Mango was hacked for $100 million. Was this the first time? No. Solana had a direct attack on its user’s wallets back in August, where over $6m was stolen. Earlier, in February, a colossal $320m was stolen from Solana. 

The total cost of these hacks alone in 2022 has amounted to over $446m. To put that into perspective, that’s about the same amount of security aid the US announced it would send Ukraine in June.

While Solana’s future remains uncertain, especially after Ethereum’s upgrade pushed its potential TPS to 100,000, Metacade faces very little competition in a rapidly-growing market. All of this alone could make Metacade a prime contender in its field. But the features described above could easily make Metacade an epic titan in the budding GameFi industry. 

With these factors in mind, Metacade is likely incredibly cheap right now at it’s presale stage. If you’re wondering whether to invest in Solana or hold out for Metacade in the wake of 2022’s crypto crash, the answer is clear: Metacade should be your first choice.

You can buy Solana at eToro here.

You can participate in the Metacade pre-sale here.

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