Is FTX the end of the US’s stronghold as crypto’s global hub?

 Massive outflows of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from centralized exchanges last week signal further changes in an already chaotic time. And since many affected firms are based in the US, how will the ongoing fallout affect crypto’s geographical landscape?

Diane Dai, co-founder of DODO, a decentralized exchange ecosystem  $77 Billion in all-time volume, believes that a shift may be inevitable. Diane was recently named a member of Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30 cohort this year, and her story was recently featured in Bloomberg. 

Below is a quote from Diane detailing her thoughts on how the FTX collapse could shift the global crypto landscape. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to connect with Diane directly.

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  • …On geographical centralization: 

    “As an asian entrepreneur, the thing that I had in my mind is that the US is the centre of crypto — so I thought, ‘I have to go to the US.’ But now, I don’t really believe that there is any geographical centre of the crypto industry, nor should there be. The whole idea about crypto is decentralisation. So even the idea of a geographical centre is counter to the very nature of crypto itself. And it doesn’t work — every time that a country rises as the global crypto hub, it inevitably falls. People always decide to move on.”

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  • …On FTX and decentralization: 

    “What happened at FTX, unfortunately, was not entirely unnatural — if something can happen logically, it will happen one day. It’s not about luck. That’s why decentralization is so important — if you use a DEX, you can rely on the code. But if you use a CEX, you have to rely on trusting people — and eventually, people will let you down. 

    “That’s exactly what happened at FTX. People decided to put their trust in the words of a 30-year-old white man. And it turned out that his words were empty — his image was a PR trick. 

    “No one should have to put their trust in anyone who has the possibility of letting them down like this. It’s dangerous. Blockchain exists so that we don’t have to place our trust in people who can let us down. So why aren’t we using it?”