Crypto Exchanges Growing, But Issues Remain On Trust And Customer Service

Blockchain, FinTech, Investing, News | October 12, 2018 By:

This year may be viewed in history as the year of the crypto exchange. From peer-to-peer to platforms and futures, exchanges sprouted everywhere, and the existing exchanges also grew rapidly, creating new offices, going on hiring sprees, and entering new territories

Wei-Ning Huang, co-founder and CTO of theCOBINHOOD exchaneand co-Founder of DApps platform DEXON, talked with Block Tribune about the changes.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: What is driving the change in the exchange models?

WEI-NING HUANG:  Part of the evolution in exchange models is natural – just as the overall market matures, exchanges will naturally follow suit and diversify from a basic commission model to more sophisticated offerings. Additionally, a more diversified revenue model for exchanges helps shields us from price fluctuations. If exchanges can develop stable sources of revenue, the business as well as the industry overall benefit because that frees us from the whim of market forces.

We cannot overlook the fact that exchange users’ themselves are a key driver of change. Each user’s desire for increased control, decentralization and trust in the security and accuracy of technology keep the industry improving.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: Exchange customer service has been notoriously bad. Is that changing?  If not, why not?

WEI-NING HUANG: It is changing simply because it has to; competition is too fierce in crypto for subpar customer service, and speaking more broadly, we live in the “age of the consumer.” Consumer access to information and alternatives has never been easier, so exchanges ignore highly visible areas like customer service at their own peril.

BLOCK TRIBUNE:  There have been suspicions that certain exchanges are pumping up coins in various schemes. How true?  What signs should consumers look at?

WEI-NING HUANG:  I have heard about this quite often, for example, WAX was pumped and dumped, that was a big news back in 2017. That’s why it’s very important for traders to choose the right exchange to trade. COBINHOOD is a trustworthy exchange which never works with ICO projects focused on pumping and dumping. Consumers should consider all signs before investing.

BLOCK TRIBUNE:  How many of the existing exchanges will survive once institutions arrive into crypto?

WEI-NING HUANG:  I would say it’s about centralization and decentralization. Today’s institutions are all centralized, meaning you don’t directly own your assets. Decentralization will allow you to hold your asset and have full control with it without letting any medium involved. In the decentralized world, everyone would like to hold their assets freely and those purely centralized exchange will become out-of-date.

BLOCK TRIBUNE:  Are there any statistics available on how customers are using exchanges?  Why or why not?

WEI-NING HUANG:  Yes, we rely heavily on quantity and quality factors to better understand our customers. We do lots of market research as well.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: We are in what some call an ICO winter, and certainly crypto prices have been hammered in the last 10 months. How will any rebound affect exchanges?

WEI-NING HUANG: A rising tide lifts all boats, so certainly an ICO “rebound” would be beneficial – but I would quibble with the word rebound, as activity is still vigorous – just last week Cobinhood is announcing yet another ICO listing and many more are to come. The initial development and spread of ICOs was so frenzied it wasn’t sustainable, and so relative to that growth had to slow somewhat.