Perhaps you’ve caught their name floating around Crypto Twitter, or even thought about jumping into their DeFi pool. With its millions of users and a big list of supported cryptocurrencies, it’s no wonder that many people are drawn to it. XT Earn ensures you safe and easy passive earnings. XT Futures brings the rush of low-risk, high-leverage trading. XT Copy Trading indicates towards easy profits with the click of a button. Before you jump in headfirst, let's ask a crucial question: who really benefits from this platform?

DeFi Dreams For Whom, Exactly?

Unfortunately, much like other bitcoin exchanges, XT.com creates an illusion of democratized finance. Let's be real. DeFi, even with easy onramps like XT Earn, isn’t necessarily inclusive by default. Consider XT Earn, for example. Staking, savings, and mining – easy peasy, huh? Then there are the gas fees to even participate in them. What about all of the technical know-how you need just to figure out how to use the platform and what risks there are? For people who are already advantaged by access to capital and technology education, it’s yet another path to riches. For those struggling to make ends meet, or lacking access to reliable internet and education, it's just another locked door.

It's like offering a state-of-the-art culinary school to someone who can't afford groceries. While the opportunity exists, technically, the access to that opportunity is woefully lacking. We need to ask ourselves: are we building a truly inclusive financial future, or just recreating the existing inequalities in a digital form?

125x Leverage: Gambling Or Empowerment?

Let's talk about XT Futures trading. 125x leverage. The potential for massive gains is undeniable. So too is the opportunity for transformative, even catastrophic, losses. Think of it like this: it's the equivalent of giving someone with a learner's permit the keys to a Formula 1 race car. OK, maybe they do win the race, but riddled with underfunding and debt, they’re much more likely to go down in flames.

The fact that such high leverage were available, particularly to novice traders, seems irresponsible. Demo trading mode is available on XT.com for practice. That doesn’t mitigate the dangers of real trading, particularly at these high stakes. Second, it preys on the get-rich-quick mentality that is all too prevalent in the crypto space. We need to be real with ourselves and answer the question, is this empowerment, or is it predatory lending hiding behind DeFi? Are we truly giving people the tools to achieve financial freedom, or are we just building a new digital casino where the house always wins?

I’m cast back to the 2008 financial crisis, incited by inscrutable complex financial instruments that almost nobody fully grasped. How exactly are we endangering our future in the crypto space? Risky, unregulated platforms continue to provide accepting users to dangerously high leverage, exposing users to unknowingly take on increased risk.

No KYC: Freedom or Facilitation of Fraud?

The no-KYC policy (which can be easily bypassed with a VPN in restricted countries) is both a strength and a weakness. Its greatest promise, in our view, is in providing financial access to those in repressive countries. It helps people in countries with less developed banking systems. It’s a radical move, a fuck-you to the technocratic imposition of top-down regulation.

It makes it a refuge for illegal crimes. Put simply, it has allowed scammers to get away with murder. It’s child’s play for money launderers to get their dirty money cleaned, and for sanctioned individuals to evade sanctions. XT.com strongly recommends against the use of VPNs to access the platform from restricted jurisdictions. The possibility of being able to do so is deeply unethical.

It’s akin to issuing a “members only” sign to a private club but then leaving the back door unlocked so that anyone can waltz in. Oh, absolutely, you can set these standards, but you’re not holding anybody to them, right? The “freedom” of no-KYC policies is an attractive place for bad actors to wreak havoc. In the long run, this makes our most vulnerable users less safe. XT.com considers security a priority and has taken necessary security measures, including 2FA, Proof of Reserves, and cold storage. These precautions do not address the primary concern of inviting bad actors with a weak KYC policy.

That doesn’t make XT.com evil or illegitimate and XT.com is a perfectly legit exchange. It has hundreds of millions of users and reaches pretty much every corner of the internet. Yet it bears a moral responsibility to do better. Here are a few concrete steps they could take:

XT.com undoubtedly has the capacity to be a critical catalyst for financial inclusion. It has to be more than just providing services. To be clear, the federal government should not step in to micromanage state and local decisions. It's time to decide whether XT.com wants to be a true DeFi darling or just another echo chamber for the crypto-rich. The choice is theirs. And ours, as public users, to hold them accountable.

  • Invest in Financial Literacy: Create comprehensive educational resources in multiple languages to help users understand the risks and rewards of DeFi.
  • Lower the Barrier to Entry: Offer micro-lending options and lower transaction fees to make XT Earn more accessible to individuals with limited capital.
  • Implement Stricter KYC/AML Procedures: Even if it means sacrificing some "freedom," prioritize security and compliance to protect users from scams and illicit activities.
  • Partner with Community Organizations: Collaborate with organizations that support underserved communities to provide financial education and access to responsible DeFi opportunities.

XT.com has the potential to be a driving force for financial inclusion. But it needs to move beyond simply offering services and start actively working to ensure that those services are accessible and beneficial to everyone, not just the privileged few. It's time to decide whether XT.com wants to be a true DeFi darling or just another echo chamber for the crypto-rich. The choice is theirs. And ours, as users, to hold them accountable.