In his initial tweet on transparency, CZ called for exchanges to do “Merkle-tree proof of reserves,” a data structure that encodes blockchain data. While blockchains are publicly verifiable, centralized exchanges like Binance, FTX, and Coinbase do not offer a similar layer of transparency. If they published a Merkle tree, it would provide a map of sorts for the customer assets they hold.
“That is absolutely going to be where the focus is for the next little while, which is right,” he said. “We have learned from our mistakes.”
https://fortune.com/crypto/2022/11/14/binance-promised-transparency-proof-of-reserves-crypto-ftx/