Gate boasts 104% cold reserve coverage, but separate snapshot dates raise red flags

Crypto exchange Gate has introduced Proof of Security, a disclosure framework that proves its cold assets cover customer balances if it lost all its hot-wallet assets.Its Nov. 5 announcement reports 104.58% cold-storage coverage, using a storage snapshot taken at 00:00 UTC on Nov. 4.The published percentage compares asset shares from different snapshots, rather than establishing cold assets and customer balances on a single common date. Gate discloses that limitation, so customers need more than the headline ratio to verify the full-backing claim.Different measurement basesGate's PoSEC methodology compares an 88.26% cold-storage share with an 84.39% user-asset share. The remaining shares are 11.74% in hot wallets and 15.61% owned by the platform.Cold storage is measured against cold assets plus hot-wallet assets in the storage snapshot, while user assets are measured against platform reserves in the separate Proof of Reserves snapshot. The FAQ defines the coverage calculation as the first share divided by the second.The page explicitly says the snapshots have different totals and that intervening price changes and fund movements are not reflected.Two denominator bases, one reported...