Aya Kantorovich, a co-CEO and co-founder of digital asset management firm August Co., is calling for urgent coordination among cryptocurrency exchanges. She warned that fragmented systems are leaving billions at risk when markets move fast.
Kantorovich told Bloomberg that the recent $19 billion in liquidations across exchanges during “Bitcoin Black Friday” revealed how nonstandard risk practices can magnify volatility.
“When an exchange goes down, funds can’t necessarily move, and you see cascading liquidations,” Kantorovich explained. “In traditional markets, circuit breakers and inventory coordination keep things orderly — that doesn’t exist yet in crypto.”
The Oct. 10 event saw bitcoin prices fall roughly 12%. It’s a modest drop compared to past sell-offs but large enough to expose the industry’s weak infrastructure.
The market has matured since 2018. But analysts said that exchanges still operate like “isolated islands of risk.” Each uses its own margin, settlement, and risk metrics.
Kantorovich’s call for coordination comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continues to review over 130 crypto exchange-traded fund applications. New regulation, combined with a wave of institutional participation, could push exchanges toward the kind of data and liquidity standards seen in traditional finance.
Crypto’s infrastructure shift also has an environmental dimension. Bitcoin miners’ high electricity demand has long drawn scrutiny. But the same access to steady grid power, as explained in the interview, would “give them that strategic advantage” that could help drive change.
Some operators are investing in renewable sources or using excess capacity to stabilize local grids. Others still rely on dirty energy that undermines sustainability gains. The result is a rapidly evolving — and deeply uneven — energy footprint.
As U.S.-based hiring and policy momentum increase, Kantorovich said there’s a shift back onshore compared to a year ago. Whether coordination follows could determine if crypto grows into a stable financial pillar or continues to trade on chaos.
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