Coinbase Says No Exposure to FTT Token and Alameda, Minor Deposits at FTX
The publicly traded crypto exchange sought to reassure customers and investors during panicky conditions on Tuesday.
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"There can't be a 'run on the bank,' said Coinbase (COIN) in a statement, noting its publicly filed and audited reports show all customer assets as fully backed.
The company said it has minimal exposure to struggling crypto exchange FTX, with just $15 million on deposit there to facilitate business operations and customer trades. Coinbase further said it has no exposure to FTX's token FTT – which has plunged about 80% Tuesday – and no exposure to FTX sister company Alameda Research.
The exchange did have some technical issues Tuesday, acknowledging network connection problems for both web and mobile. It's unclear at this time if those outages have been fixed.
Meanwhile, another crypto exchange, Kraken, is also distanced itself from FTX. "Kraken has no material exposure to FTX or Alameda. We do not support FTT on either our spot or derivative platforms," Kraken's spokesperson, Edith Camargo, told CoinDesk.
Coinbase shares are down about 9% as bitcoin (BTC) plunged below $17,000, to a new 23-month low on Wednesday.
UPDATE (Nov. 9, 17:30 UTC): Adds comments from Kraken. Updates share price.
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Stephen Alpher is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.