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FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, 2022. Now, four years after the FTX collapse, many exchanges publish reserve reports and seek federal oversight, and large brokerages offer crypto trading too. But does that mean keeping your crypto on an exchange is any safer today?
FTX Customers Got 118% Back, but Only at 2022 Prices
FTX’s bankruptcy plan promised customers at least 118% of their account value, but it was based on November 2022 asset prices. At that time, Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) was trading around $17,000. Bitcoin currently trades near $73,899, so customers repaid in dollars missed out on most of that gain.
Founder Sam Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence for his role in the collapse. The hole came from customer funds that FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, secretly used, creating a financial gap customers couldn’t see.
Exchanges Are Now More Transparent With Reserve Reports and Federal Oversight
Exchanges now share more about their finances. For instance, HTX reported in November 2026 that it backs more than 100% of customer holdings in Bitcoin, Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH), and other major cryptocurrencies. These reserve reports show that an exchange holds the necessary coins on a specific date. However, they don’t reveal hidden debts, the kind of issue that led to FTX’s downfall.
Regulatory oversight has also increased. Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN | COIN Price Prediction) received a national trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on November 9, which puts its custody operations under federal supervision.
Investors also have more ways to own crypto outside traditional exchanges. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) now offers crypto trading to all eligible retail clients, and spot ETFs let investors hold Bitcoin through their brokerage accounts, with no exchange account needed.
Hacks Still Happen, and Self-Custody Carries Its Own Risks
Despite these improvements, hacks remain a significant risk. Binance, for example, was hit by a major theft in late October and may need to buy back billions in stolen coins. Unlike bank accounts, crypto balances carry no FDIC insurance, so customers of a hacked exchange must rely on its reserves to recover their funds.
Self-custody, where holders keep their own private keys, typically on a hardware wallet, comes with its own risks. Buying these devices directly from the manufacturer avoids the tampered products sold by resellers.
However, even cold wallets can be hacked, and an iPhone flaw could expose sensitive information like seed phrases. Spreading coins across a few licensed platforms can also limit losses from any single failure.
Is Your Crypto Any Safer on an Exchange Now Than Before the FTX Collapse?
Yes, keeping your crypto on a reputable, regulated exchange is safer than it was in 2022. Reserve reports and increased regulatory oversight make it harder for problems like FTX’s to go unnoticed.
That said, reserve reports don’t protect against hacks, and exchange balances still aren’t insured. So the extra safety holds only on a licensed platform with a current reserve report, and only for the crypto needed for trading.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
