Key Takeaways from Bitrue Community Talks | 2022 Recap with Chief Strategy Officer of Bitrue, Mr. Robert Quartly-Janeiro

28th December 2022 — We did a special edition in the series where we recapped the Year 2022 in crypto with our Chief Strategy Officer, Mr. Robert Quartly-Janeiro. In case you missed out, we have compiled the key takeaways from the session in this article for you! First of all, let’s revisit the biggest moments in crypto in 2022. It’s undeniably been a volatile year with many events sending the crypto market on a downward spiral. With these monumental events having happened, we wanted to know our CSO’s thoughts on this so-called ‘crypto winter’.

2022 was Indeed a Tough Year

Undeniably, this year had been a tough year for a number of reasons. However, it is also important to recognize and appreciate some wider macroeconomic issues across diff asset classes, not just cryptocurrencies. The current market conditions mean the industry is in a prolonged crypto winter (bear market), but it should be noted that this is not the first time the industry has undergone this. But here we are today. This year, surprisingly, the collapse of FTX became the biggest event of the year. Tied to the FTX fallout, Gemini Exchange fell through as well. The trading losses of Three Arrows Capital and the market reverberations from that also further impacted the space. Not only that, other issues causing concerns included industry and macroeconomic issues like increased interest rates, inflation, geopolitical issues, and an increased likelihood of regulation.

On the flip side of that, we also observed a recent increase in demand for stablecoins continues to rise, which was more of the investors’ response to fight for quality and flight to safety. The importance of investors’ wallets being secure has also been emphasized more than before. Lots of assets have been taken off of exchanges and transferred into cold wallets. Generally, people are just looking for the right market timing.

Safety, Security, and Transparency as a New Forefront of the Industry

Our industry is in an improving state as it was before. With conversations around safety, security, and transparency coming to the forefront of crypto, it will further mature and accelerate crypto as a space. The collapse of FTX, Luna, and 3AC has accelerated the importance of overcoming those challenges. Again, it is important to remember that the crypto space had undergone numerous bear markets since the inception of Bitcoin in 2008. On a positive note, we can observe greater industry consciousness and awareness about the need to mature for exchanges and projects have emerged when it comes to safety, security, and transparency.

Only projects with convincing use cases and business models are making it to market as conditions are much tougher. We have also observed industry consolidation occurring and the best-ran platforms are seeing users move to them. Some exchanges went out of business. With around 260 exchanges present globally, we can further expect that number to decline. Consolidation can be viewed in a semi-positive light, this meant we will get increased quality with exchanges that are well-positioned to survive in the years to come. This meant exchanges that conduct business fairly conservatively, maintain good trading volume, provide good liquidity, and are not overleveraged. We should bear in mind that the proper role of an exchange is to provide a market, provide access to the market, make a market (when necessary), provide safe custody to investor assets, and sometimes provide lending conservatively. An exchange should not BE the market! Investor assets should not be used as funds to secure lending nor should they be used to acquire real estate in the Bahamas.

For major and mature coins, there are signs we have reached the trough of trading. Prices have seemed to bottom out, which meant they are showing signs of stabilizing, considering also the fact that people are on holiday now. In the medium term, the nature of digital currencies’ integration with the digital and real economy is becoming clearer. We should be seeing the general economy move in general.

Bitrue’s Commitment in Maintain High Standards of Security

Bitrue has always prioritized the safety and security of user assets, and it had been a priority for a long time. Bitrue has been a relatively low-profile and conservative exchange. We set high standards when it comes to the safety of our users’ assets. To achieve that, we must ensure we consistently have good trading volume and liquidity, and limit lending and lending ratios (being conservative). Other than that, we also value the quantity and quality of the coins listed on our exchange. Through interim reviews, we evaluate the key performance metrics of these tokens and delist underperforming ones.

Bitrue has focused on establishing a strong and impenetrable security system that focuses on operations and security. We regularly conduct bug bounties to prevent the loss of funds caused by system bugs. 70% of our funds are also held in cold wallets offline. Bitrue also does ongoing penetration tests with Hacken, a blockchain cybersecurity company.

We have started the process for our PoR audit and it will continue after the holidays conclude. The results of that work will be reflected in CoinGecko’s trust score.

Bitrue holds the importance of transparency to a high degree as well. Furthermore, to safeguard our users against potential risks, we established an insurance fund and made the address publicly accessible online. Making information about projects available to the community. We are also honest and open when it comes to sharing information related to our listed tokens and projects.

Things to Bear in Mind If You Want to Start Trading Cryptocurrencies

In spite of some of the challenges faced by the industry as a whole, there are many people who are looking from the outside and still interested in the innovative technology that crypto has to offer. For someone relatively new to the space, they should keep a few points in mind:

• As an investor, Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR) to educate and protect yourself.
• Be cautious about where you invest and be mindful when learning about projects, tokens, and exchanges.
• Know your investment horizon and timeline — Are you in this for the long haul or are you here for the short term?
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Diversify and spread your risks across different assets and platforms.
• Know and consider your Risk Appetite before you start investing.

With all that being said, the likelihood of regulation filtering into the market could have both positive and negative effects on crypto prices, but its ongoing volatility is unlikely to end. Many investors still view crypto as an emerging and developing industry that’s young and diversified.

Bitrue and Our Community

The community had always been an important part of us. Practically speaking, we offer reward campaigns (like cash bonuses), trading fee waivers for certain coins and futures, and different varieties of staking programs for our community.

On the other hand, in a broader spectrum, what we really want to do is to get closer, stay connected, and grow our community by listening to the many ideas, thoughts, and concerns of the community and from there, resolve them. We are also looking into methods to improve our customer service turnaround time and communication. Work is also being put in to help protect the community from scammers and exploitations. We are also looking into how we could integrate a loyalty program for our community.

As our community is aware, we have been regularly hosting and attending “Ask Me Anything” sessions via Telegram and Twitter Spaces. The main goal of these sessions is to cultivate better relationships with the community and further understand the community’s needs.

To ensure our survival, we need a good community. Only a good community can bring in good trading volume and savvy investors. We are thankful for the ongoing support the community has shown to us in this past year and we truly appreciate the community for being there with us every step of the way. Without the community, we cannot be where we are today.

Answering Some Questions from the Community…

Before concluding the session, some questions from the community have been handpicked and answered as seen below:

1. What are Bitrue’s revenue models?

Bitrue generates its main income from trading activity, through buying and selling transactions made by users. This includes spot, leveraging, futures, and options. High levels of trading will naturally bring in more revenue. For now, many investors are waiting for the right market timing which is why more funds are bring held in stablecoins and wallets.

We also make strategic investments in projects. For example, supporting Cardano to its fruition. Bitrue Ventures, a separate wing from our exchange that is not directly related to us, focuses on areas that not only involve cryptocurrencies.

2. What areas in crypto do Bitrue focus on?

Bitrue is open to working with projects as long as they have a healthy and sound model and roadmap ahead. Projects that have good use cases and a good outlook ahead are also something we are open to working with. Our business development and partnership team has built connections with a diverse portfolio of projects. We are always looking for interesting and unique projects to work with.

For now, however, we have to bear in mind the core of our business and the resources that we have. Since it was a tough year, a lot of focus and emphasis on making and doing things right have been done instead of acquiring new focus areas like GameFi.

3. How does BItrue choose projects to list?

Again, we are always finding interesting projects to work with. We have a diverse portfolio of listings that spreads across Europe and Asia. Bitrue Ventures also invested $50 million in a varied selection of projects.