Over the past month, there has been no shortage of headlines about struggling exchanges. Some of the founders involved are people I’ve crossed paths with. This is a sobering reminder of how unforgiving every crypto downturn can be.
Most conversations today focus on which exchange survives or which project fails. But after spending the past month in the US and Europe meeting with Wall Street traders and institutional clients, I came away with a different perspective.
What surprised me is that the institutions many people see as the backbone of market liquidity aren’t exactly having an easy time either. Many are going through painful adjustments of their own.
A few observations that stayed with me:
1. The scars from last year’s 10.10 market shock are still healing
The decline in crypto liquidity wasn’t temporary, but structural. Comparing notes with several institutional trading firms, even the largest venues have generally seen liquidity decline by around 30-40% since the market turmoil.
Lower liquidity isn’t just about lower trading volumes. It also raises the cost of trust. Higher volatility, more fragmented liquidity and greater sensitivity to market manipulation have made institutions much more cautious about deploying capital.
One lesson has become very clear: don’t overestimate how quickly markets recover, and don’t underestimate how long it takes to rebuild confidence. Everyone is repairing balance sheets. That process takes time.
2. Long-term conviction hasn’t disappeared, but the playbook has changed
Despite a difficult market, institutional interest in digital assets hasn’t gone away. If anything, more firms are quietly preparing for the next cycle while prices remain subdued.
The biggest change is how they think about crypto. It’s no longer viewed as a standalone speculative asset class. It’s increasingly becoming one component within a broader global portfolio. Multi-asset strategies, tokenized real-world assets, cross-asset collateral and hedged portfolios are becoming standard discussions. That also helps explain why some of the crypto trading volume lost over the past year is being replaced by equities, FX and commodities.
Institutions aren’t leaving. They’re evolving. They’re optimizing for more stable, diversified return profiles rather than relying on pure crypto beta. Platforms built only around crypto trading may find it increasingly difficult to meet those changing needs.
3. More than ever, institutions want peace of mind
From FTX to the more recent incidents across the industry, every exchange crisis has reinforced the same lesson: safety is the minimum requirement for staying at the table.
When I speak with institutions and VIP clients today, the conversation is no longer just about generating alpha. Asset security, risk management and capital efficiency now matter just as much.
They don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket. At the same time, they don’t want their capital sitting idle or becoming fragmented across different platforms and accounts.
What they are looking for is fairly straightforward: transparent third-party custody, clear risk controls and an account structure that allows capital to move flexibly when opportunities arise.
This is also why products such as rToken are attracting more attention from professional investors. The same position can provide market exposure, be pledged to access liquidity and be used as margin.
The goal is not to take more risk with the same capital. It is to make every dollar work harder while keeping safety at the centre of the equation.
-------
The financial industry has always rewarded scale and trust, and crypto is no different. I’ve often told our team that many offshore exchanges outside the top 10 group may not survive the next few years. But even being among the largest players is no reason to become complacent.
Bear markets are uncomfortable, but they have a way of forcing everyone back to fundamentals. The companies that emerge stronger won’t simply be the ones that cut costs or survive another cycle. They’ll be the ones that manage short-term risk while continuing to build infrastructure, discover genuine product-market fit and solve real customer problems.
That’s what we’re focused on. And I believe that’s where the industry’s next chapter will be written.
Recently, some trading pairs in the market have experienced extreme volatility. We take this matter very seriously and have conducted an in-depth review of the relevant market conditions and the performance of our platform mechanisms.
At Bitget, we firmly believe that trust is built on adherence to the rules. We will take a series of measures to maintain a fair trading environment.
“User First”
https://t.co/C7jbLEvTYx
Regarding the abnormal price fluctuations in the reference prices of three trading pairs, including TUTUSDT, 龙虾USDT(LOBSTER), and BICOUSDT, here are the full recap:
🕙Timeline (GMT+8)
At 15:12 yesterday, we detected abnormal price fluctuations and immediately activated risk control measures, establishing an internal team to investigate the matter.
At 19:53, we publicly committed to announcing a compensation plan within 24 hours.
At 19:22 today, we released the public compensation announcement. For details, please see https://t.co/fXSjkR8GOg
All affected accounts (retail and institutions) can register according to the steps in the announcement. We will complete the compensation distribution within 2 business days. This incident resulted in losses of nearly $40 million for users, and Bitget will provide compensation to those users.
I’ve been with Bitget for four and a half years, and together with the company and our users, we’ve weathered both bull and bear markets. I often say that a bear market is a “golden window for building,” and the first prerequisite for building is to live up to the trust placed in us.
Compensating all affected users is the right thing to do—and it’s how we “live up to that trust” amid the adversity of a bear market.
This incident has also made us to confront the some shortcomings—specifically, the OI-marked price mechanism and our risk control response in a market manipulation. We will continue to optimize our emergency response mechanisms, transforming every post-incident review into stronger platform capabilities. We will also tighten the listing criteria for crypto altcoin perpetual contracts and implement cleanup and restriction measures of listed altcoins.
We thank all users for your oversight, feedback, and patience. Trust should never be taken for granted, whether it comes from a retail user, a VIP, or an institution.
We hold this trust seriously. We will not waste it.
We have detected abnormal price movements in TUT, BICO and LOBSTER, and have implemented risk controls and restrictions.
Our team is currently reviewing the incident and assessing the impact on users.
And we will publish a detailed compensation plan within 24 hours and protect users' rights.
Users First is the No. 1 important value of @bitget .
@spirexhq × @bitget 🏔
The engine doesn't chase exchanges. The exchanges come to the engine.
Proud to announce our strategic partnership with Bitget Global bringing autonomous AI trading to millions of traders spirex
Thank you @Mark_Bitget & the Bitget
Others predict. Traders want. We decide.
Why wait hours when you can verify in seconds? ⚡️
@MEXC x @sumsub is how we scale to the next 40 million users.
✅ Instant Verification
✅ Global Compliance
✅ Enhanced Security
The future of onboarding is here.
🎉 Something BIG is coming to MEXC. Guess what?
Something massive is dropping on our 8th anniversary. $80,000 is up for grabs for those who get it right.
Hint: 3 Things are changing at MEXC on Apr 8.
How to join:
1️⃣ Follow @MEXC
2️⃣ Quote this post with your 3 guesses + UID
3️⃣ Use #MEXC8th
Ends: Apr 7, 23:59 UTC
Full rules 👇
#MEXC #MEXC8th
The @DriftProtocol incident is not just a protocol exploit.
It is a trust event for Solana DeFi.
When a leading onchain perps venue is compromised through privileged access, the market does not interpret it as an isolated bug. It raises broader questions around governance design, permission controls, risk oversight and the resilience of trading infrastructure under stress.
That is why the implications extend beyond DRIFT itself.
This kind of event does not remove demand for SOL exposure, perpetuals, or liquidity. It changes where sophisticated traders choose to access them.
In moments like this, the real differentiator is not narrative.
It is operational discipline.
For @MEXC_Official , the opportunity is not to position CeFi against DeFi. It is to demonstrate, clearly and credibly, the value of robust infrastructure, stronger control frameworks and consistent trading continuity when confidence is under pressure.
In volatile markets, execution matters.
But trust in the underlying infrastructure matters even more.
. @cryptoquant_com ‘s Annual Exchange Leaders Report is out
Top 3 overall
MEXC, Binance, Bybit
My takeaway isn’t the ranking, it’s the shift, derivatives are the growth engine now, and the market is rewarding what actually works under pressure.
Depth, execution, resilience
Next cycle won’t be won by the loudest narrative. It’ll be won by the strongest infrastructure.
What’s the real edge from here, liquidity, fees or product velocity?
🇹🇷 MEXC TR Yıldızlar Gecesi VIP Partisi
🎉 Bu özel buluşmada MEXC TR, anlamlı birliktelikler, açık sohbetler ve unutulmaz anlarla dolu bir akşam için Türkiye'nin en iyi VIP’leri ve ortaklarıyla bir araya geldi.
🚀 Etkinliğimizde, MEXC TR’nin yolculuğunu ve geleceğe yönelik vizyonunu seçkin konuklarımızla paylaştık. Fırsatlarını en üst düzeye çıkararak olağanüstü bir başarı elde eden en iyi VIP'lerimizi de gururla onurlandırdık.
📹 Etkinliğin önemli anlarına birlikte bakalım 👇
#MEXC_TR