Deals
Sam Bankman-Fried Bows to Rescue From Binance’s CZ as FTX Buckles
- Crypto exchange giants joint force after spat between founders
- Token prices tumble amid concern over deal closing, terms
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Billionaire Changpeng “CZ” Zhao became the undisputed king of the crypto world on Tuesday, shocking the industry with a move to take over FTX.com, the troubled firm led by his chief rival and onetime disciple, Sam Bankman-Fried.
The letter of acquisition intent by Zhao’s Binance Holdings came after a bitter feud between the two men spilled into the open, with Zhao actively undermining confidence in FTX’s finances and helping spark an exodus of users from the three-year-old FTX.com exchange. A day before accepting the deal from Binance, Bankman-Fried said on Twitter that assets on FTX were “fine.” By Tuesday, he had changed his messaging.