While the crypto winter brings losses to private investors and cryptocurrency firms are forced to scale back their ambitions, large corporations don’t miss an opportunity to expand their influence. Their “rescue operations” are presented under the pretext of altruism, but it seems more like an attempt to monopolize the market.
First and foremost, we’re talking about Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX and one of the most recognizable people in the industry. He told Bloomberg in late May that the exchange was willing to spend billions of dollars to buy shares in other companies. So, in early July, BlockFi CEO Zac Princeannounced an agreement with FTX, under which the platform would receive a $400 million credit, and FTX would be able to acquire BlockFi shares for $240 million at any time. Further developments are easy to predict. FTX holds the same negotiations with the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb.
Interestingly, such “rescue operations” aren’t new for FTX. The scheme is well-proven and quite understandable. FTX previously “saved” Japanese crypto exchange Liquid in the same way after it was hacked, having acquired it in February of this year. And Bankman-Fried has enough resources for new acquisitions, as FTX is only a small part of Alameda Research, whose assets under management are equivalent to about 10% of the entire crypto market cap.
The businessman has repeatedly claimed that he wants to “do things that can help it [the market] grow and prosper” and backed up his words with actions. But this very altruism, when viewed globally, looks like an attempt to monopolize the market.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance, led by its head Changpeng Zhao, isn’t far behind, announcing an intention to “help” the industry. The exchange is already in talks to “rescue” over 50 cryptocurrency companies experiencing a “little bit of a liquidity crunch.” That said, Zhao doesn’t deny that the crypto winter is a good time to grow business by taking over weak players. Well, at least he’s not hiding behind altruistic intentions.
Justin Sun, the creator of the blockchain ecosystem Tron, is ready to spend about $5 billion on all sorts of “rescue operations” for CeFi and DeFi platforms. I hasten to add that before Zhao and Bankman-Fried stepped up their efforts, Sun wasn’t eager to “throw a lifeline to the drowning.” Where did this enthusiasm come from? Perhaps he keeps an open mind on the current situation and doesn’t want to be left out of this triumph of altruism?
According to research by Grayscale Insight, the crypto winter may last another 250 days, but most likely, the market won’t hit its next ATH until late 2024. So many crypto companies will have to “seek salvation by cutting a deal with the devil.” Will this winter be the beginning of the crypto market monopolization process? I’m afraid so.
