Binance ditches deal to rescue rival crypto exchange FTX
Binance will abandon its deal to rescue Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX cryptocurrency exchange, citing concerns about its business practices and investigations by US financial regulators.
The move comes a day after Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto trading venues, tentatively agreed to buy FTX after it suffered a liquidity crunch.
“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,” Binance said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The Binance boss had hoped to prevent more customers suffering losses after a string of high-profile failures of crypto firms this year have hammered confidence in the sector. He also wanted to forestall a domino effect of damage to firms exposed to FTX and Alameda through lending or trading positions.
“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,” Binance said. “Every time a major player in an industry fails, retail consumers will suffer.”
Additional reporting by Scott Chipolina
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Ortenca Aliaj
