digital The cryptocurrency world fears that FTX will take a lot more than it does in its dizzying fall
Will FTX die alone or bring down everyone? (Photo by Stefani Reynolds/AFP) — AFP
- In one week, FTX went from number 2 in cryptocurrency to a bankrupt company, the fault of illegal schemes and a panic effect.
- And the scare that gripped FTX investors may well spill over to other platforms.
- So, simple passing crisis or the beginning of a general fall for a speculative sector which has just shown its weaknesses?
On Monday, the cryptocurrency world woke up. with a hangover worthy of your best aftermath of a student night out. Within a week, FTX went from strength to strength. of the second exchange platform of the sector at the global level; a company placed under the bankruptcy regime in the United States. A little earlier, at the beginning of November, the media disclosed that the FTX Alameda Research fund was investing in crypto-assets issued by… FTX, in an arrangement as risky as it is fragile. And the final nail in the coffin on Saturday, when company officials revealed; that unauthorized transactions had taken place that could result in the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Now remains at know if this big plunge is an isolated case; or harbinger of a storm in the world of cryptocurrency, as Lehman Brothers did with traditional banks fifteen years ago?
FTX, the contract of non-trust
The worst-case scenario is not to be found. rule out, warns Geneviève Bouché, a cybernetician futurist at the university Paris-Dauphine: “The currency is backed by a mechanism of trust, and once that is broken, panic can quickly spread.” Hugo Estecahandy, crypto specialist at the French Institute of Geopolitics, evokes a snowball effect: the more the value of the virtual currency drops, the more people panic and sell, the more the value drops, and so on. without really knowing how far it will stop.
Cryptocurrencies have this particularity; to have even fewer safeguards than material money. Anne-Claire Bennevault, director of bnv.com, a brand and business performance consulting firm, and of spak.fr, whose goal is to democratize access to internet. economic research, explains: “The low share of supervision and regulation in this market amplifies the risks of a rebound effect. Spread is a more than plausible scenario.” Same observation with Geneviève Bouché, for whom cryptos will have a hard time selling. reassure after this gigantic hiccup: “It looks like the end of a utopia, we were promised to remake the world thanks to digital technology without banks, but people notice that without authority, without safeguards, the situation can quickly become uncontrollable. label. It’s a model that fades away”
Weaknesses brought to light
So be careful: the bankruptcy of FTX is not due to a structural problem with cryptocurrencies, but cataclysmic management. We are talking about 477 million dollars which would have been stolen and another 186 million believed to have been transferred to secure storage. by FTX itself, according to cryptocurrency analyst firm Elliptic. But the simple fact of having been able to establish such an arrangement before being pinned “shows investors, large companies or individuals, the danger of using its trading platforms, which account for three-quarters of bitcoin transactions”, develops Hugo Estecahandy. These platforms are indeed very popular as they facilitate and democratize cryptocurrency, not requiring any particular notion of encryption.
The expert continues: “People can see that they no longer have control or possession of their cryptos.” Which, admittedly, isn’t the most reassuring signal of confidence in the world. So while there’s no guarantee that another platform would have made such catastrophic – and illegal – choices, there’s no guarantee that it wouldn’t either. As a result of these exposed weaknesses, many crypto pullbacks or panic selling have already occurred. took place, notes the specialist.
What now?
So as at every crisis, the hope of better days and a “world according to” is never far away. “This can lead to better regulation of this sector, which many platforms are calling for, even more so after these events, believes Anne-Claire Bennevault. For example, you will have to demand a deposit guarantee.” Singing tomorrows or not, future there will be, predicts the expert, who recalls the strong appetite of young people for this new world: “The under 35s are just as interested for cryptocurrencies than for life insurance or stocks. It’s a speculative, risky sector that lacks barriers, but it continues to grow. make you dream.”
Cryptocurrency will therefore undoubtedly experience difficult times, but FTX will not have caused it. in the grave anyway. After a post-college night hangover, the after drink was never good enough. very far.