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Crypto.com has some of its team trading tokens for profit, according to a newspaper report today.
The Financial Times reported Monday that the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange operates proprietary trading and market making teams. The report cites five unnamed people with direct knowledge of the company’s trading desk.
The exchange told Decrypt that it does not rely on proprietary trading as a source of revenue, like the FT claimed. And it told FT that it was “not a controversial practice” to have an internal market maker.
"While we do have some market making activity, for example, we have internal market makers for our CFTC-regulated product Up/Downs in the United States," Crypto.com said in its email to Decrypt. "This market making activity is a regulated practice, as long as there is a level playing field, i.e. all market makers have to follow the same ruleset, that assures market fairness & integrity."
Crypto.com is a platform that allows clients to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. It also offers clients a Visa debit card to spend digital assets.
The FT report raises questions about potential conflicts of interest in the industry as American regulators crackdown on major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase—which were both sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this month.
In the SEC’s Binance lawsuit, the regulator alleged that the defendants “enriched themselves by billions of U.S. dollars while placing investors’ assets at significant risk.”
The FT’s report raises questions about conflicts of interest—something which has landed major crypto exchanges like FTX and Binance in trouble with regulators and the law. FTX suddenly went bankrupt in November last year and prosecutors allege the exchange made risky bets with client funds; Binance has been accused of commingled customer assets.
Crypto.com, which did a commercial with actor Matt Damon back in 2021, earlier this month announced that it would wind down its institutional service for American clients.
The exchange said it made the decision due to “limited demand from institutions in the U.S. in the current market landscape.”