Binance is pulling rank in the role of crypto consolidator in chief amid public tensions with rival FTX.
“This afternoon, FTX asked for our help. There is a significant liquidity crunch,” Binance CEO CZ tweeted on Tuesday. “To protect users, we signed a non-binding [letter of intent], intending to fully acquire http://FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch. We will be conducting a full [due dilligence] in the coming days.”
A liquidity crunch at FTX — which had been buying up trouble crypto platforms in 2022 — hints the potential selling of crypto to shore up finances.
“Things have come full circle, and http://FTX.com’s first, and last, investors are the same: we have come to an agreement on a strategic transaction with Binance for http://FTX.com (pending [due dilligence] etc.),” SBF CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted.
A combo of Binance and FTX — the top and third largest crypto trading platforms by volume, respectively — would create a behemoth in the crypto trading community.
Shares of Coinbase and Robinhood, both of which opened lower amid the tensions between two of the largest crypto trading platforms, rose on the news. Bitcoin also rose after being under pressure.
Shares of Riot, one of the largest Bitcoin miners in America, also popped on the news.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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