By Darren Parkin
Binance chief Changpeng Zhao has sensationally announced he has agreed to buy Sam Bankman-Fried’s beleaguered FTX exchange.
The shock move comes barely a day after ‘CZ’ ordered the liquidation of almost $600 million of FTX tokens following arguments with the rival organisation’s founder.
The pair clashed over Bankman-Fried’s comments surrounding how the global cryptocurrency industry should be regulated. The Twitter spat even stirred up rumours of insolvency surrounding SBF’s trading company Alameda Research when leaked accounts showed liabilities worth $8 billion largely made up of unidentified loans.
However, in an unexpected announcement this afternoon, Binance’s 45-year-old boss suddenly declared he was preparing to buy FTX.
“This afternoon, FTX asked for our help,” he said.
“There is a significant liquidity crunch. To protect users, we signed a non-binding LOI, intending to fully acquire http://FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch. We will be conducting a full DD in the coming days.
“There is a lot to cover and will take some time. This is a highly dynamic situation, and we are assessing the situation in real time. Binance has the discretion to pull out from the deal at any time. We expect FTT to be highly volatile in the coming days as things develop.”
More to follow.
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