As I was reading the news and following the FTX fiasco developments, I wondered, “What would centralized exchanges do now?” How should they market and position themselves?
Because of the FTX fiasco, the whole industry has suffered, but the centralized exchanges have taken a major hit. Last week, Binance experienced the largest net outflow of Ethereum (ETH) of roughly $1.44 billion, followed by OKX with $1.24 billion. In just a week, almost $3 billion of ETH had been taken out of these centralized exchanges. The figure would be even more if we were to look at the trading volumes on other centralized exchanges. This goes to show how people are wary of putting their money in a centralized exchange.
So, where does this leave the centralized exchanges? How do they earn back the trust of the community? As a marketer, I feel there are three things centralized exchanges should focus on to gain back people’s trust:
Humanize your brand
Be it in the current market scenario or a better time for the industry, humanizing your brand is one of the best things you could do.
So, how do you do that?
Let the community know there’s more to your brand than simply being one of the many exchanges. The people behind a brand help build trust in a company or a project. This is why brands shell out millions of dollars to get celebrities, personalities and people they trust to become their brand ambassadors.
I’m not saying you need to get a celebrity to endorse your brand. Rather, the people in your company can be your brand ambassadors and, in turn, help humanize the brand (the way Binance has done with CZ). And it doesn’t have to be just a single person. It’s better if there are multiple people representing your brand.
Introducing your core team members to the community is a great way to do this. Knowing whose handling their money gives a sense of safety to the community.
Another good way would be to conduct regular AMAs and Twitter Spaces to address the community’s questions and concerns, considering the FUD all around.
Publish proof of reserves report
After the FTX fiasco, proof of reserves has become a must for all exchanges, especially the centralized ones. Being transparent about your assets is a great way to build credibility amongst the community.
Another way to help build trust would be to get audited by reputable organizations like CERTIK to showcase that security is of utmost importance to your organization.
Transparency and security are two major aspects centralized exchanges need to focus on.
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Send out emails
Emails will help the community stay updated on what’s happening in your organization. And, the emails needn’t necessarily be only about project updates. Once in a while, the emails could be about how you bring in the weekend in your office or how you celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas. The key here is to share with the community how a person would share things with friends or colleagues.
I know times are tough, but by incorporating the above suggestions and keeping a tab on the current market scenario, this could help centralized exchanges turn things around a bit.
Dev Sharma is the founder and CEO of Blockwiz, a strategic crypto marketing agency trusted by over 250 Web3, NFT and Metaverse companies.
This article was published through Cointelegraph Innovation Circle, a vetted organization of senior executives and experts in the blockchain technology industry who are building the future through the power of connections, collaboration and thought leadership. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Cointelegraph.
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