Binance Is Strongly Leaning Toward Scrapping FTX Rescue Takeover After First Glance at Books: Source

Backing out would be one more stunning development in the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire.

AccessTimeIconNov 9, 2022 at 3:32 p.m. UTC
Updated Nov 9, 2022 at 10:14 p.m. UTC
Brett Harrison
Founder and CEO
Architect
Don't miss "FTX: What Happened" with the former president of FTX's U.S. arm and Anthony Scaramucci.
Brett Harrison
Founder and CEO
Architect
Consensus 2023 Logo
Don't miss "FTX: What Happened" with the former president of FTX's U.S. arm and Anthony Scaramucci.

Ian Allison is an award-winning senior reporter at CoinDesk. He holds ETH.

Brett Harrison
Founder and CEO
Architect
Don't miss "FTX: What Happened" with the former president of FTX's U.S. arm and Anthony Scaramucci.
Brett Harrison
Founder and CEO
Architect
Consensus 2023 Logo
Don't miss "FTX: What Happened" with the former president of FTX's U.S. arm and Anthony Scaramucci.

Cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance is highly unlikely to go through with its proposed acquisition of struggling rival FTX after less than a day of reviewing the company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Binance’s nonbinding letter of intent for the takeover – announced Tuesday as FTX’s financial position appeared to be spiraling out of control – hinged on Binance performing due diligence. Roughly half a day into that process of reviewing FTX’s internal data and loan commitments has led Binance to strongly lean against completing the transaction, the person said.

Binance declined to comment on the current status of the proposed deal. FTX also declined to comment.

After CoinDesk released this story, losses in the cryptocurrency and U.S. stock market worsened. Bitcoin (BTC) revisited its 2022 low of around $17,100, and ether (ETH) returning to its post-Merge low of $1,160. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) recently was down 5.2% from 24 hours earlier. The S&P 500, the benchmark for American equities, fell to its low of the day.

Backing out would be yet one more stunning step in a week of drama. CoinDesk a week ago published a scoop about the balance sheet of Alameda Research, the corporate sibling of FTX. The story prompted concerns about the financial stability of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire, which includes both companies, leading to a liquidity crunch at FTX – a situation exacerbated Sunday when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said he would sell his holdings of the FTT cryptocurrency issued by FTX.

Binance then struck the deal after FTX had sought help from and was turned down by other large exchanges, Coinbase and OKX, according to people familiar with the matter.

UPDATE (Nov. 9, 15:43 UTC): Adds in third paragraph that FTX declined to comment.

UPDATE (Nov. 9, 15:49 UTC): Adds in fourth paragraph that losses in the crypto market worsened after this story was published.

UPDATE (Nov. 9, 16:01 UTC): Adds in fourth paragraph that the S&P 500 fell to its low of the day.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

CoinDesk - Unknown

Ian Allison is an award-winning senior reporter at CoinDesk. He holds ETH.


Learn more about Consensus 2023, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


CoinDesk - Unknown

Ian Allison is an award-winning senior reporter at CoinDesk. He holds ETH.