(Un)accountability of crypto assets exchanges: evidence from a slippery financial field

Purpose This study aims to critically examine the accountability architectures of centralized crypto asset exchanges (CEXs) in a financial environment marked by rapid innovation and opacity. It probes the extent to which techwashing – where technological rhetoric obscures substantive scrutiny – is embedded in CEX governance, drawing on Critical Dialogic Accountability (CDA) and operationalizing Bovens (2010) dual conceptualization of accountability as virtue and as mechanism. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts an exploratory posture for a totally overlooked field to date and interrogates the top five CEXs by trust score (Binance, OKX, Bybit, Kraken, KuCoin) through a qualitative coding of publicly disclosed documents and interviews with key industry stakeholders. CDA provides the analytical lens, emphasizing inclusivity, reflexivity, dialogue and contextualization as core accountability dimensions. Findings The analysis exposes troubling accountability voids and a systematic deployment of techno-utopian narratives that sanitize risk and veil governance shortcomings. Techwashing emerges as a strategic device, undermining transparency and eroding stakeholder trust. Originality/value This paper makes a dual contribution: theoretically, it sharpens the application of CDA within emerging financial infrastructures, foregrounding how governance mechanisms are co-opted by technological spectacle; practically, it surfaces urgent implications for regulators and industry actors seeking to anchor accountability in a sector prone to hype and evasion. By introducing techwashing as a diagnostic lens for crypto governance, the study pushes accountability research into new terrain – where innovation must be interrogated, not merely admired.