Opinion: Crypto Exchanges Need to treat Each Other as Peers, Not Competition

Competition is very good, as long as it is Healthy. It’s what makes one strive to be better. – Christine Lahti

Forget about established businesses. They have their own beef to deal with. In India the crypto exchanges are fighting to be on the top spot. The fight however is getting dirty as one exchange starts to take a dig at another. Crypto currency exchange is a fairly new space. Incumbents like Zebpay, Unocoin, coinsecure have enjoyed the lead for far too long. It was when Koinex came into the market with an open-orderbook exchange that things seem to change.

Following closely was Coindelta, Coinome, Bitbns and 30 or so newer exchanges that caught the train. Soon everyone started learning from the other’s mistake. The exchanges got better. Resolved many issues. Eventually making way for better products. It all seemed almost utopian, until some exchanges started attacking the other ones.

Contents

1 They are not Competition, Not Yet.
2 Unocoin’s Advertisement on Keywords
3 Koinex Vs Bitbns – Written by Bitbns
4 Learnings from the Others:
5 Read More:

They are not Competition, Not Yet.

Here’s a tweet from Nischal Shetty, the founder and CEO of WazirX Crypto exchange. The tweet was sent out after Koinex announced 24 Hours of free trade on their site.

The competition thinks free trading for 24 hours is amazing. I call that bullshit and useless marketing play.

Here’s what’s amazing. For the first 24 DAYS post launch, trading fees on @WazirXIndia will be absolutely FREE. Game on! #WRX #blockchain #jaiHind

— Nischal (WazirX) (@NischalShetty) February 23, 2018

I personally believe that these are testing times for crypto exchanges. The markets are low. You need trade volumes to make an earning. The revenue is low as volumes are down. But this dissing in public is not really the best way to go about it. Not long ago Koinex was new and having the same problems.

Calling their offer ‘bullshit’ and ‘marketing play’ can inversely affect your reputation. Sure, you get some eyeballs, even I personally texted Nischal, everyone was sharing the tweet in the community, even on our groups. But at the end of the day, Koinex is still leading in volumes than WazirX. They will get there, no doubt, but it won’t be because of tweets.

Unocoin’s Advertisement on Keywords

Back in 2017, if you ever googled any other exchange, you’d see a bunch of ads of Unocoin. They offered INR 200 worth of BTC free back then when you signed up. No matter how much I try, I could not find a screenshot of it right now, if you have it, do send it to me. But I personally was looking for Zebpay when Unocoin ads were shoved into my face and I registered on it.

Koinex Vs Bitbns – Written by Bitbns

Okay. I get it. You guys are competitors for the top spot in the crypto exchanges. But seriously? Writing a review about Koinex on your own site and showing how Bitbns is better than Koinex! Is that a good move?

In my opinion it is childish. But I have to hand it over to Bitbns. They were able to highlight a lot of flaws in Koinex. The problem with such reviews is, things change quickly. For instance Koinex now offers UPI deposits as well as Instant withdrawals. Bitbns has a lot more coins than Koinex. It is an ever changing game.

If this is a ploy to attract customers based on google search, that worked out well. As the link is showing up first in the search results. But how long does Piggy backing work? Let someone else do the comparison. Don’t be like a cheap Bitcoin Hardfork trying to pass on as a better version of Bitcoin. Low blow.

which one is a better exchange, koinex or bitbns? — The Screenshot of Koinex Vs Bitbns comparison sheet on Bitbns website

Learnings from the Others:

As I said in the beginning, crypto space is fairly new and there is enough pie for everyone to have a sizeable bite. Right now, we should all come together and work for the betterment of the community. These tactics only goes to show that you find the community not smart enough to make informed choices.

Take BACC for example. The Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Committee headed by the CEO of Zebpay, Ajeet Khurana is currently open to voluntary membership. 7 Exchanges are already part of it and are meeting regularly to help build a proper framework for the exchanges in India.

Join the BACC and give your constructive feedback instead of fighting out in public.