These Crypto Market Makers Were Wary of FTX Before Collapse

B2C2, Kairon Labs and a few others had concerns about the exchange and its sister firm Alameda Research before liquidity concerns became headlines.

The collapse of crypto exchange FTX has inflicted losses far and wide in the industry. The surrounding market turbulence has crypto lender BlockFi reportedly eyeing bankruptcy protection and the lending arm of Genesis Global Trading – owned by CoinDesk parent Digital Currency Group – pausing redemptions and new loans. The debacle has also stoked some pejorative aspersions of crypto as a den of heedless risk taking.

A few big trading firms saw the FTX trouble brewing and took quick action or stuck to risk-mitigation procedures to quickly reduce their exposure amid the throes of the exchange’s collapse. The takeaway might be that the nascent crypto industry does include some savvy players with long-term survival practices that could keep liquidity pools filled, providing a degree of stability during one of the largest shakeouts in the industry’s 13-year history.

Trading firm B2C2 says it turned down an FTX-related loan request. Kairon Labs pulled assets from FTX on a hunch before the exchange imploded. And Amber Group softened its exposure during the withdrawal pause.

“We didn’t really look into it too much, but withdrew 98% of our company’s assets that were on FTX as a precaution, which turned out to be a good move,” Kairon Labs co-founder and managing partner Jens Willemen told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

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