Cryptocurrencies plunge after Binance pulls out of FTX Trading deal
Global News
Bitcoin sank to a two-year low after Binance confirmed earlier rumors and news reports that it was ready to back out of the FTX deal.
Cryptocurrency prices plunged for a second-straight day after crypto exchange Binance said it was pulling out of a deal to purchase failing rival FTX Trading.
Bitcoin sank to a two-year low after Binance confirmed earlier rumors and news reports that it was ready to back out of the FTX deal, struck between the CEOs of the two exchanges on Tuesday. The deal was pending Binance’s due diligence on FTX’s balance sheet.
After an initial review, Binance said in a statement Wednesday that it had significant concerns that convinced it to back out of the deal.
“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 in a statement.
The price of bitcoin plunged more than 13 per cent to $15,840, according to CoinDesk, its lowest level since November 2020. It had been above $20,000 earlier in the week. The other major cryptocurrency, Ethereum, dropped 13 per cent.
FTX had agreed to sell itself to Binance after experiencing the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run. Customers fled the exchange after becoming concerned about whether FTX had sufficient capital. The sudden sale was a shocking turn of events for FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was hailed as somewhat of a savior earlier this year when he helped shore up a number of cryptocurrency companies that ran into financial trouble.
FTX’s own crypto token, known as FTT, plunged more than 50 per cent on the reports. The token, now worth around $2.50, was worth 10 times that amount only a week ago. Many of crypto investors’ concerns centered on whether the balance sheet of an affiliated company of FTX known as Alameda Research was saturated with increasingly worthless FTT tokens, whose total value would not exceed the exchange’s liabilities, effectively making FTX insolvent.
To further illustrate FTX’s financial straits, Bankman-Fried asked his investors Wednesday for $8 billion to cover withdrawal requests, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources.
Stock index futures were steady on Tuesday, as investors hoped for a quicker resolution to the Middle East conflict that has led to a spike in energy prices.
The video game company on Friday joined thousands of American importers who have filed requests in the U.S. Court of International Trade for tariff repayments.
U.S. stocks are falling sharply Friday after getting a whiff of a worst-case scenario for financial markets: a weakening economy combined with high inflation.
The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude shot up 8.5 per cent Thursday to settle at US$81.01 per barrel, the highest level since the summer of 2024.
Under the terms of the voluntary pledge, companies intend to build or buy new sources of power generation for their data centers and cover the expense of infrastructure upgrades.
Oil prices leaped, and stock markets slumped worldwide following military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran, including Wall Street and the TSX.
'The core thesis is simple. Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company,' CEO Jack Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders of the financial tech firm.