_cleanup.png)
FTX, the world’s former second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, imploded, leaving what would be an $8.8 billion hole in its balance sheet. Many of its 1 million consumers are currently unable to withdraw their money.
Last Friday, Bahamas-based FTX Group filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, was replaced as CEO by John Ray III, a turnaround and restructuring lawyer who worked on the liquidation of former energy conglomerate Enron.
The FTX crisis unfolded last week after Binance Changpeng (CZ) CEO Zhao tweeted that Binance would “liquidate” its FTT token holdings “due to recent revelations that have come to light.”
His holdings were estimated at around 5%, or $580 million.2019 saw Binance invest in FTX as a shareholder. He sold that stake last year and received $2.1 billion in FTT tokens and Binance’s stablecoin (BUSD) as compensation.
FTX Founder Makes “A Very Expensive Call”
Binance CEO CZ, in a recent tweet, attempts to dispel a lingering rumor that his crypto exchange “shorted” or “undervalued” FTT, leading to its collapse.
He says in full transparency that Binance has never shorted FTT. He added that the exchange still has a bag as it stopped selling FTT after founder Sam Bankman-Fried made what he called a “very expensive call”.
“We didn’t plan this or anything related to it,” CZ said of the FTX crisis. He provided some details about the call with the founder of FTX: “I was surprised when he wanted to talk. My first reaction was that he wants to do an OTC deal, but here we are,” CZ said. , saying he had “very little knowledge of the internal state of affairs at FTX” before the call.
As soon as the conversation with Bankman-Fried was over, he reportedly told his staff to “stop selling as an organization.”
.png)
