The "latest disclosures" were an article from Coindesk on Wednesday that looked into the connection between Sam Bankman-Alameda Fried's Research hedge fund and the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. A "secret financial document accessed by CoinDesk" claims that FTX's native token, FTT, has supported Alameda's balance sheet.
The financials confirm what business observers already know: Alameda is significant. The company's assets were at $14.6 billion as of June 30. $3.66 billion in "unlocked FTT" is its single largest asset. All of Binance's FTX token (FTT) holdings are being sold. CEO Changpeng Zhao said that the reason is "due to recent disclosures that have come to light." Regarding any notion that this is a move against a rival, he said, "It is not. Whenever a project publicly fails, it harms every user and every platform in our nascent sector.
Binance is selling off all FTX tokens it has on hand.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange, tweeted on Sunday that all of the FTX tokens (FTT) listed on his platform are being liquidated. The CEO said BINANCE gained $2.1 billion in FTT and BUSD (Binance's stablecoin) after selling its FTX ownership last year. Binance invested in FTX in the beginning. Zhao stated that we have chosen to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books due to recent developments.
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
In later tweets, the CEO of Binance clarified:
"We will strive to do it in a way that minimizes market damage. We anticipate that this will take a few months to finish because of the market circumstances and the lack of liquidity. Normally, we keep tokens for a long time. Additionally, we have kept this token for this long."
CZ further explained:
The CEO asserted that the transaction is not "a move against a rival" as some have suggested, noting that "Binance always fosters collaboration amongst industry participants." "Our business is still in its infancy, and every time a project fails in front of the public, it harms every user and every platform," he concluded. The 22,999,999 FTT moved to Binance on November 5 as part of his exchange's FTX token departure move was acknowledged by CZ shortly after his statement.
- the balance sheet breaks out a few of our biggest long positions; we obviously have hedges that aren’t listed
- given the tightening in the crypto credit space this year we’ve returned most of our loans by now
— Caroline (@carolinecapital) November 6, 2022
Response from Sam Bankman-Fried
I was going to write a different thread. Still, I took a deep breath and reminded myself of something we'd all do well to remember: that we're all in this together. I wish the best to "everyone" driving the industry forward," FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried wrote in response to the Binance CEO's tweet regarding FTT. He went on:
"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."
On October 19, FTX released a paper titled "Possible Digital Asset Industry Standards," which drew a lot of criticism from the cryptocurrency sector. Mega-donor to the Democratic party Bankman-Fried has come under criticism for his contentious remarks against the decentralized finance (defi) system. CZ, however, is a strong proponent of defi and has previously stated: "Binance is substantially investing in defi."
1) A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us--we're excited to keep climbing together.
And especially to those who stay level headed during crazy times. We deeply appreciate it.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 6, 2022
Additionally, some individuals think the FTT sale may have something to do with Bankman-major Fried's trading company, Alameda Research's financial standing. The same strategy that wrecked Celsius Network appears to be the foundation of Alameda Research's finances, according to an article released by Dirty Bubble Media on Friday. An exposed balance sheet is used in the essay.
