Messari analysis: OKEx, Huobi and Bithumb are top 10 "Real Volume" bitcoin exchanges
Crypto data aggregator and research platform Messari has recently revamped its ranking methodology effectively adding 10 new exchanges that were previously excluded from its list.
This latest initiative is part of its effort to create a more accurate and fairer ranking system devoid of the rampant fake trading volume that has plagued the industry since time immemorial. This problem is so pervasive that American crypto investment manager Bitwise concludes that around 95% of all volumes on unregulated exchanges are fake.
Included in the report of Bitwise is a list of 10 exchanges which they believe are posting legitimate volume statistics. The list includes Binance, Bitfinex, Bitflyer, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, itBit, Kraken, and Poloniex. Noticeably missing from the list are some of the biggest and well-established exchanges coming from South Korea, Japan, and China. According to Ryan Selkis, CEO at Messari, the previous real volume metric has unfairly penalized some of these exchanges for posting slightly overstated trading volumes and ignored the vast legitimate volume they have.
Selkis knew that they needed to include some of these missing exchanges into their methodology. This led them to curate the data curators and take a more common-sense approach. By doing so they have decided to score trading volume legitimacy based on a review of 10 different third party stats such as exchange rankings, ratings, liquidity estimates from Coingecko, CoinmarketCap, CryptoCompare, CryptoWatch (Kraken), Nomics, FTX’s volume monitor, Chainalysis on-chain data and anecdotal data from top traders.
The CEO acknowledges that the approach is imperfect but directionally accurate in estimating real trading volumes. He also reveals that they applied a 50% reduction of exchange trading volumes for Korean and Chinese exchanges which he insists is a better adjustment than a simple web traffic comparison which he estimates had the net effect of a reduction of volume by approximately 90%. It was quite obvious he was alluding to the recent ranking metric adjustment of CoinMarketCap.com where it added web traffic as one of the metrics used to estimate trade volume.
This new metric of Messari has propelled some of the major players in the exchange industry into its top rankings. Huobi, OKEx, Liquid, Bithumb, and UPBit made it into the top 10 by volume after the aforementioned adjustments. Regarding this report, OKEx CEO Jay Hao commented on twitter, “With our strong technology-backed products & large user base, @OKEx has been repeatedly validated as a top global exchange. We will redouble our efforts to improve our communication with customers and partners to help you all better understand us.”
Binance continues to dominate the space by capturing the top spot in this ranking. This seems to have added legitimacy to CoinMarketCap’s recent decision to include web traffic as one of the metrics to determine trade volume rankings where Binance also got the top spot after the adjustment.
Binance’s acquisition of CoinMarketCap (CMC) has raised some question if the site will be able to maintain its impartial and independent reporting of essential crypto-related data. Its recent decision to adjust the metrics on how trading volume is estimated coincidentally raised the ranking of Binance, its new owners, into the top position. This stoked fears that the premier crypto data aggregation site has lost its independence. However, the management of Binance and CMC reassured the cryptocurrency community that it will continue to operate independently.
Clay Collins, CEO at Nomics, a competitor of CMC states that the latest CMC metric changes may backfire against Binance in the long term. He adds that Binance could find itself under much scrutiny if ever CoinMarketCap was ever found misrepresenting data that helps Binance in any way. Another executive who doubts the intent of Binance’s acquisition of CMC is Ciara Sun, the head of global markets at Huobi. She stresses that the recent acquisition compromises CMC’s neutrality further stating that Binance should not receive a perfect score since it has experienced a major security breach before.
Sun also criticizes CMC’s ranking system for including web traffic as part of its metric but ignoring more crucial factors such as exchange security, compliance and licensing, and total asset management. Lennix Lai, director of financial markets of OKEx also shares the same sentiment saying that the new ranking is biased. According to Lai, Website traffic is known to be one of the most biased parameters to rank an exchange. He adds that this metric can easily be distorted by fraudulent traffic using mobile devices and VPN-directed traffic.
As we can see exchange ranking is a hotly contested topic. So long as there is no standard in ranking exchanges the debate on which of the exchanges are the best among the rest will continue to rage. On the brighter side, it is nice to know that many crypto data aggregators and research sites, like Messari, continually refine their metrics in their relentless pursuit to find the most accurate and reliable ranking system that best represents the industry we have today. Until then we will have to contend with a deluge of varying exchange rankings from various sources and discern for ourselves which one of them is our very own top crypto exchanges.
