Exchange Wars? Binance to Liquidate All FTT Holdings

FTX Insolvent? Binance Enters Protection Mode

Hold on to your hats--but not your FTT, apparently. In a move that has started to shake the markets over the weekend, Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), confirmed that Binance will liquidate the remaining exchange token of major exchange FTX, FTT, on its balance.

Lots of speculation has surrounded the move announced by CZ on November 6, as many in the industry have pointed out that FTX and Alameda Research (a project with close ties to FTX) could be overly collateralized with FTT. The over-collateralization is estimated to be in the neighborhood of a few billion dollars of value.

CZ has since confirmed that this is “not a war or battle.” In some ways, this is both a chance to continue market consolidation--if users leave FTX, Binance is a good bet to receive some of these users and their funds--as well as a hedge to protect against another LUNA/Celsius event.

CZ also noted that Binance will make efforts to dump the tokens to reduce market impact. But the FUD is real. There are already signs of users leaving FTX and stablecoin assets moving between Alameda and FTX.

The face of FTX, founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has called for levelheadedness in this time of sudden chaos. Even calling out the “unfounded” speculation.

SBF has recently been in the crosshairs of many big names in the industry for his perceived favoring regulation of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and betraying the principles of the crypto industry.

CZ’s words speak for themselves when he points out that he will not stand for anyone--like SBF-- who lobbies against those in the industry. Is this move a subtle act of war or business as usual to protect users?

Despite not being quite a ‘war or battle,’ get your popcorn ready, folks, because it appears the show has just begun.