BitMEX co-founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes. (Bloomberg / Getty) / FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried testifies at a Congressional hearing on digital assets and the future of finance, Dec. 8, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call / Getty)
Following months of rumors and tension between two rivals, the world’s No. 1 crypto exchange, Binance, is buying Sam Bankman-Fried’s non-U.S. unit, FTX.com, in a consolidation that could create a colossus in the crypto trading world.
FTX’s native token FTT lost 75 percent of its value in 24 hours after Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao tweeted on Sunday that Binance planned to liquidate all its FTT holdings over the next several months — $530 million worth. Zhao, who is Chinese Canadian, tweeted about “recent revelations,” triggering speculation about the solvency of Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange.
Investors withdrew around $6 billion from FTX in the 72 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, according to a message to staff from SBF that was seen by Reuters.
Zhao cited a Nov. 2 Coindesk report that FTX sibling Alameda Research held at least $3.6 billion in “unlocked FTT” tokens at the end of the second quarter.
FTX is one of the biggest donors to Washington politicians and Zhao, 45, tweeted, “We gave support before, but we won’t pretend to make love after divorce. We are not against anyone. But we won’t support people who lobby against other industry players behind their backs.”
Bankman-Fried, 30, denied insolvency rumors Monday, tweeting, “A competitor is trying to go after us with false rumors. FTX is fine. Assets are fine. FTX has enough to cover all client holdings. “
Now the rivals seem to have set aside their differences “in an attempt to placate the entire crypto ecosystem,” Brian Sozzi and David Hollerith wrote for Yahoo! News.
Zhao said Tuesday that Binance signed a nonbinding agreement to buy FTX’s non-U.S. unit, FTX.com, to help cover a “liquidity crunch” at FTX.
“Things have come full circle, and http://FTX.com’s first, and last, investors are the same: we have come to an agreement on a strategic transaction with Binance for http://FTX.com (pending DD etc.)” Bankman-Fried tweeted just after noon EST Tuesday.
Responses on social media ranged from astonishment to relief.
“Who is yo fucking daddy! I’m speechless” tweeted Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of the BitMEX crypto exchange, which was launched in 2014 and quickly became one of the largest in the industry. Hayes is credited with being the first Black crypto billionaire. He and his fellow co-founders were accused in 2021 by the U.S. government of supporting money laundering.
“I know that there have been rumors in media of conflict between our two exchanges, however Binance has shown time and again that they are committed to a more decentralized global economy while working to improve industry relations with regulators,” SBF said in an announcement. “We are in the best of hands.”
SBF wrote that most of the details (of the deal) haven’t been hashed out and he did not have a “definitive answer” for questions including “what exactly is the transaction” and “what entities would it include.”
“A *huge* thank you to CZ, Binance, and all of our supporters,” SBF tweeted. “This is a user-centric development that benefits the entire industry. CZ has done, and will continue to do, an incredible job of building out the global crypto ecosystem, and creating a freer economic world.”
Other Twitter users were less euphoric. Genia At Breakpoint in Lisbon tweeted, “now @cz_binance controls 70% of all spot & derivs volume. happy that FTX clients will be made whole, but generally terrible for the industry long term. what a train wreck.”
