Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, liquidates all of his FTT holdings on the FTX exchange
Late on November 6, tensions between Binance and FTX “heated up,” which led to a steep drop in the price of the FTT coin.
CZ claims to be liquidating all FTT due to “recent revelations that have came to light”
The exchange was the division that previously traded FTT, according to a startling remark made by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao late on November 6. Specifically, Binance earned $2.1 billion from FTT and BUSD from FTX when it bought the exchange’s shareholding from Binance. However, Binance has chosen to sell the entire FTT in light of the current market conditions.
We will try to do so in a way that minimizes market impact. Due to market conditions and limited liquidity, we expect this will take a few months to complete. 2/4
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 6, 2022
Binance admitted that it would sell FTT gradually over the months to reduce the impact on the market as much as possible. CEO Changpeng Zhao affirmed that he always wanted cooperation between the big boys in the crypto industry and said that the above action is not “playing bad luck.” Binance also said it would usually hold investment tokens for the long term, and owning FTT since 2019 has demonstrated that commitment.
We typically hold tokens for the long term. And we have held on to this token for this long. We stay transparent with our actions. 4/4
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 6, 2022
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried recently sparred on social media over the issue of FTX spending money on acquiring troubled crypto companies. The two famous billionaires in the market are also curious about other “bad” rumors. Even so, it is a rare act from Changpeng Zhao and Binance to announce such an insider investment transaction to the crypto community, especially knowing it could significantly impact the crypto community.
The FTT price dumped heavily after the Binance CEO announced the sale of FTT was posted.
FTT/USD 4-hour chart | Source: TradingView
Before that, the cryptocurrency community reported that a wallet containing up to 23 million FTT (more than $580 million) had sent the balance to the Binance exchange. This sum was amassed by the other address between December 2019 and December 2021. It is reported that this is the FTT address of the Binance exchange, and thanks to the CEO of Binance’s comment above, this information has been somewhat indirectly proven. CZ further implied that Binance might potentially contain more FTT when he remarked, “This is only part of it.”
Yes, this is part of it. https://t.co/TnMSqRTutr
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 6, 2022
Around 01:00 AM on November 7, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX officially spoke about the entire drama. The CEO avoided discussing the tension between FTX and Binance, instead introducing the newly updated email or phone number transfer feature. However, Sam FTX still “sends” the following “reconciliation” words to CZ Binance as follows:
5) Because I respect the hell out of what y’all have done to build the industry as we see it today, whether or not they reciprocate, and whether or not we use the same methods.
Including CZ.
Anyway — as always — it’s time to build.
Make love (and blockchain), not war.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 6, 2022
In response, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed more reasons for liquidating the FTT investment, implicitly accusing FTX of “playing bad” behind Binance.
Liquidating our FTT is just post-exit risk management, learning from LUNA. We gave support before, but we won’t pretend to make love after divorce. We are not against anyone. But we won’t support people who lobby against other industry players behind their backs. Onwards.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 6, 2022
Meanwhile, there is information that users are massively withdrawing money from FTX, with the number of stablecoins flowing out of the exchange in the last seven days reaching more than $300 million, causing the balance of $261 million on FTX before the drama to dry up and have to thanks to Alameda Research to provide $257 million to ensure liquidity, according to data from Nansen.
Meanwhile, the stablecoin outflow from FTX is the largest among all exchanges in the last 7D.
Down -$300M to a balance of $261M, excluding FTX US.
If we exclude the inflow from Alameda, I am sure the number would get much uglier. pic.twitter.com/1Jm4wstgcD
— The Data Nerd (💙,🧡) (@theData_Nerd) November 7, 2022
ETH withdrawals from FTX also hit a new ATH peak on the morning of November 7, according to CryptoQuant.
FTX hourly withdrawals for $ETH just hit an all-time high.https://t.co/KUY0bMepl3 pic.twitter.com/2NNechANVp
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) November 6, 2022
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried reassured that the exchange’s situation is fine and has successfully processed billions of USD in deposits and withdrawals in the past hours, and thanked users who still support and accompany the exchange.
4) And in the end you should do what you want, and trade where you want. We’re grateful to those who stay; and when this blows over we’ll welcome everyone else back.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 6, 2022
Read more:
- What’s Unusual About Billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s Cryptocurrency Empire – FTX And Alameda Research
- Binance Has Announced That It Has Stopped Supporting GALA On Exchange And On BNB Chain