The Proof-of-Reserves of the Kucoin exchange

KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu announces the launch of the Merkle-tree Proof-of-Reserves to regain trust among crypto users after the panic caused by the FTX withdrawal suspension and collapse. 

KuCoin: Proof-of-Reserves to restore trust among the crypto community

The episode of the FTX collapse, which also caused cryptocurrency prices to drop by major percentages, has caused crypto-community users to experience total panic. 

Not only that, in this 2022, in addition to FTX there have been other major failures such as that of Terraform Labs, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network, and Alameda Research, a general situation that has led to centralized exchanges losing people’s trust. 

And in fact, now more than ever, all centralized exchanges are taking steps to somehow restore confidence in the industry, each devising new solutions that will provide protection for users’ funds. 

Johnny Lyu, CEO of KuCoin, announced that Merkle’s tree-based Proof-of-Reserves will be launched in a month. On that subject, here is what he said on Twitter:

1/ Protecting user funds is the top priority at KuCoin. We will release Merkle tree proof-of-reserves or POF in about one month.

— Johnny_KuCoin (@lyu_johnny) November 9, 2022

“I’d like to give my sympathy for anyone who has been hurt by the current FTX situation. Hopefully, everything can be resolved quickly and the industry can get back on track. Protecting user funds is the top priority at KuCoin. We will release Merkle tree proof-of-reserves or POF in about one month and work closely with authoritative auditing institutions to ensure the accuracy and truthfulness of the numbers and information we provide to our users and to build confidence and transparency in the industry.”

In practice, Lyu said that Proof-of-Reserves is a direct reaction to the panic of users being locked out of their funds, with several exchanges suspending withdrawals. Not only that, KuCoin’s Proof-of-Reserves will use a Merkle tree as proof of verifiable funds.

Proof-of-Reserves is a standard that provides concrete proof of ownership of declared reserves. As early as 2019, Blockstream released a dedicated tool, compatible with several exchanges, so that centralization would also be lacking in the declaration of its reserves. 

KuCoin and its report on soccer fans investing in cryptocurrencies

And while there is general panic, there is also a lot of excitement, especially for those crypto users-investors who also love soccer, in view of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

In this regard, the KuCoin exchange published a report “When Crypto Meets Football”, to describe how cryptocurrency investors are also lovers of sports, especially soccer, and how they will act under a crypto and Web3 perspective. 

Football excitement surges as the #FIFAWorldCup is around the corner! Read the new insights from KuCoin Research’s “When Crypto Meets Football.”

— KUCOIN (@kucoincom) November 18, 2022

“Football excitement surges as the #FIFAWorldCup is around the corner! Read the new insights from KuCoin Research’s “When Crypto Meets Football.”

Overall, the report is based on surveys conducted among 20,180 cryptocurrency investors between January and September 2022 and 8,022 users in KuCoin communities in November 2022. 

Highlights of the survey reveal the following points:

• 70% of cryptocurrency investors are following the 2022 FIFA World Cup;
• 48% of soccer fans among these cryptocurrency investors are interested in trading fan tokens for sports teams during the upcoming FIFA World Cup;
• 35% of soccer fans among these cryptocurrency investors have traded NFTs in the past 6 months, and 42% of them are interested in investing in sports NFTs.

The collaboration with Polygon and Web3 companies for “Shoot to Win Goal”

KuCoin also announced that it is collaborating with Polygon and other Web3 companies such as WinGoal and YGG SEA to launch “Shoot to Win Goal”, a 4-day event that aims to highlight the intersection of crypto and soccer. 

Specifically, WinGoal is a F2P DApp for the World Cup to earn and win more, and YGG SEA is the first subDAO of Yield Guild Games. 

The event will feature three rounds of play, from November 17 to 20, 2022, and participants will be able to receive several prizes, including a $1 million prize pool. 

Not only that, users will be able to mint their first NFTs, earn BTC and other tokens for free, win swag and merchandise prizes, such as jerseys, shoes or soccer cleats, iPhones, NFTs, such as CryptoPunk, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Doodles, as well as tickets to the World Cup in Qatar.