In less than 48 hours after Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced his intention to bail out FTX, Binance stated that it would not be pursuing the deal.
Binance confirmed that it would not pursue the potential acquisition of crypto exchange FTX citing reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations.
In its reasoning for not pursuing the purchase, Binance explained initially it wanted to support the ailing crypto exchange by providing its customers with liquidity but said the issues were beyond our control or ability to help.
Binance also stated that retail consumers will suffer with every instance of a major industry player failing but said the ecosystem is becoming more resilient and believes industry outliers that misuse user funds will be weeded out by the free market.
Shortly following the announcement by Binance, FTX’s website went offline returning around two hours later with a banner that warned the exchange is unable to process withdrawals and strongly advised against depositing funds.
Reports also surfaced that FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried called investors saying the exchange needed $8 billion in emergency funding to help cover the withdrawal requests and looked to raise $3 billion to $4 billion.
