Binance is the last exchange that I still have more than a dusting of crypto upon.... and I have been dawdling a bit on this one. After all, if Binance goes down, we are all in for a bit of a long long winter and pain... lots of pain! That said, crypto doesn't know the meaning of too big to fail... and so, if it does go down, I would really prefer to be minimally exposed to it.
The largest non-BNB stash that I have on Binance is from the BETH liquid staking that they offer. When it was first launched, the concept of liquid staking on the Ethereum mainnet was still not really a thing, and it was just home personal staking that was the option. So, when Binance started offering the ease of staking via the exchange platform, I figured that it would be a decent place to park some Ether.
However, since then... there have arisen decentralised liquid staking services, and the uncertainty of staking redemption is getting less and less as Ethereum moves along its long time-frame road-map. But laziness and procrastination is still a thing... and the ease of off-chain exchange liquid staking was just too convenient... plus, by selling the BETH on the open market, you normally take a bit of a hit in terms of the exchange rate. Historically, the exchange rate has been sitting at around 0.90-0.95 ETH/BETH. However, for some reason, the rate has been sitting at around 0.97-0.99 since the FTX collapse... I wonder if it is due to people fleeing the smaller exchanges and parking it on Binance?
Anyway... at around 0.98 ETH/BETH, I figured it was high time to just bite the small 2 percent loss and just get that ETH off the exchange and converted into staked ETH on chain. The fact that the main two staking protocols (Lido and Rocketpool) are now on Arbitrum and Optimism made it even more enticing to just get it out. 0 ETH withdrawal fees from Binance and low low L2 gas fees for the swaps just make it a good idea to at least get out while things are quiet.
Still... even with the ETH out and staked on-chain, it isn't completely risk free... there is contract risk, and also the longer term future of Optimistic rollups vs Zk ones. But I figure that those are risks that are more manageable than the possible failure of a large CEX! Anyway... while I'm there, I'm getting more and more out each day.
There isn't any real concern that Binance is in trouble... they are doing proofs of funds... but there has been some criticism from respected voices in the crypto community that these are not quite as watertight as you would need from a real proof of reserves. It is a tricky problem to do... but I figure that we shouldn't trust too much, just in case!
After all, this is what the entire crypto ecosystem is all about.... right?
I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x
Handy Crypto Tools
Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
