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☆ In about-face, Crypto exchange Binance pulls out of FTX acquisition
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Elizabeth Napolitano | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The crypto exchange Binance has pulled out of a deal to acquire rival digital currency company FTX just 24 hours after it announced the tentative agreement, the company said in a statement Wednesday on Twitter. Neither FTX nor the Securities and Exchange Commission immediately responded to inquiries about the deal or the reported investigation. “FTX going down is not good for anyone in the industry,” Zhao wrote. News of FTX’s insolvency has hit the platform and the wider crypto industry hard. The CoinDesk Market Index, a broad-based index of the digital asset market, is down by about 12% from last week.

It culminated on Wednesday, with Binance pulling out of its deal and throwing FTX's future into uncertainty. Bankman-Fried told Reuters on Tuesday that "I'll probably be too swamped" to do interviews. Voyager filed for bankruptcy protection the following month, with FTX's U.S. arm paying $1.4 billion for its assets in a September auction. Daily withdrawals normally totaled tens of millions of dollars, Bankman-Fried told his employees. Bankman-Fried signed a non-binding letter of intent for Binance to buy FTX’s non-U.S. assets.

☆ Breakingviews: FTX crash is old lesson for financial newcomers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - FTX is a young company facing an ancient financial problem. While it may be of little consolation to Bankman-Fried, the industry could end up better off for FTX’s agonies. Any investors who used trades on FTX’s exchange to hedge positions held elsewhere may now have to liquidate those other holdings, creating a wave of selloffs. While crypto is a new industry, the de-facto run that FTX experienced is a phenomenon as old as finance. Follow @liamwardproud on TwitterloadingCONTEXT NEWSCryptocurrency exchange Binance on Nov. 9 scrapped its deal to buy rival FTX.

☆ Crypto Has Reinvented Bank Runs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Telis Demos | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Cryptocurrency is an industry often powered by extraordinary belief, yet losses of faith are increasingly common. The latest example is also one of the biggest: The sudden liquidity crunch for FTX and its subsequent takeover agreement with rival Binance . The exact sequence of events that led up to the agreement isn’t totally clear. They seemed to accelerate when Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao , tweeted that Binance was going to sell FTX’s own cryptocurrency called FTT. That appears to have prompted a series of events that culminated in what The Wall Street Journal described as a “run” on FTX by users and a deal with Binance.

☆ FTX approached crypto exchange OKX about deal before Binance agreed to possible takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] FTX logo is seen in this illustration taken, November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNov 9 (Reuters) - FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried approached cryptocurrency exchange OKX Monday morning about a deal before he announced Tuesday that Binance had signed a nonbinding agreement to acquire FTX in the face of an apparent liquidity crunch, an OKX spokesperson said. The pressure on FTX came in part from Zhao, who had tweeted on Sunday that Binance would liquidate its holdings of the rival's token, called FTT, due to unspecified "recent revelations." OKX leadership encouraged Bankman-Fried to “work things out with CZ,” arguing that it would be better if CZ agreed not to sell Binance’s FTT holdings “instead of making a monopolistic sale,” the spokesperson added. Neither OKX or its sister exchange OKCoin, which is available to U.S. customers, had any exposure to FTX or Bankman-Fried's crypto trading firm Alameda Research.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, months after looking like a shining survivor in a struggling industry, succumbed Tuesday to a sudden liquidity crunch of its own and agreed to be taken over by rival Binance. The deal signals a power shift in the crypto world, which has been hurt by rising interest rates and investors’ retreat from risk. The pact marks a victory for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and a humbling comedown for Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, which had been growing in size and recognition before a clash between the two men set off a series of events that shook investor confidence in his firm.

Web Summit, the sector’s annual bash held in Lisbon, is doing the opposite. And the usual welter of tech companies, investors and celebrities are still milling around. That new strain of reality-based tech investing has a lot further to go, though. The relative lack of investor focus at Web Summit on new technologies that could really move the dial, such as ways to ease climate change, is striking. The sector, Smith told Breakingviews, will increasingly “influence what people talk about and who comes to Web Summit”.

☆ Binance Hires Compliance Chief From Crypto Rival Kraken
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by spot-trading volume, has snatched up the former chief compliance officer from rival Kraken, as the industry continues to ramp up its compliance efforts. Steven Christie, who oversaw global compliance at Kraken for more than four years, joined Binance as its senior vice president of compliance in May, a Binance spokeswoman said Thursday. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. San Francisco-based Kraken said Wednesday that it expects to hire a new chief compliance officer in the next few weeks. The demand for compliance and legal talent in the crypto industry has continued in recent months, despite tumbling crypto prices and layoffs, as the industry faces increased regulatory pressure.

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