It’s over, the “it” being Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. A statement has landed from its nemesis turned savior turned nemesis:
Binance Statement Regarding Potential Acquisition of FTX
As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.com.
In the beginning, our hope was to be able to support FTX’s customers to provide liquidity, but the issues are beyond our control or ability to help.
Every time a major player in an industry fails, retail consumers will suffer. We have seen over the last several years that the crypto ecosystem is becoming more resilient and we believe in time that outliers that misuse user funds will be weeded out by the free market.
As regulatory frameworks are developed and as the industry continues to evolve toward greater decentralization, the ecosystem will grow stronger.
Backgrounders to the story here, here, here, here and here, though also here. In response, Bitcoin’s down 20 per cent on a 24 hour view at pixel, with ethereum off 23 per cent and the FTX and Binance native tokens down 50 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
A scorched-earth strategy from Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, or just an uncontrolled crypto calamity? Whichever way, please remember that the ultimate victim here is effective altruism.
