The cryptocurrency exchange OKX has claimed to hold 1:1 reserves in its Proof of Reserves (PoR). It disclosed $7.5 billion in BTC, ETH, and USDT reserves, indicating that the company’s assets match 100 percent of buyers’ funds.

With the largest pool of clean assets among all major exchanges, OKX’s PoR shows current reserves proportions of 105 percent for BTC, 105 percent for ETH and 101 percent for USDT.

The analytics firm CryptoQuant defines the term “clean” in PoR as the total reserve of each crypto asset that does not include native exchange tokens and consists of high-market capitalization assets, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT.

On the OKX website, the PoR report contains historical data regarding reserve ratios and liabilities. In addition, as part of its program Merkle Tree PoR, the company published over 23,000 addresses and will continue doing it to facilitate public access to asset flows.

PoR allows transparency

As the crypto world recovers from the shock and losses of last year’s winter, PoR has become a buzzword. However, despite much discussion and work, the criteria and rankings for adequate PoR are yet to emerge. Questions also remain about how to conduct PoR audits.

Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are implementing several measures to provide POR that meets users’ needs. For example, OKX’s PoR is based on an open-source Merkle tree protocol and a Nansen dashboard, which tracks real-time transactions.

On its website, OKX says Proof of Reserves is essential because it gives “greater transparency than before.” By publishing PoR audits regularly, users can verify that their assets are safe.

Despite the efforts of OKX and other exchanges to provide transparency, Aleph Zero founder Matthew Niemerg said in an interview that math or cryptography could not solve the human problem of deceit and fraud, even when respected third parties audit the books.