Bitcoin Hits Two-year Low As Binance Backs Out From FTX Deal

Cryptocurrencies across the board have faced tremendous pressure in the last five days with the FTX saga unfolding. The price of Bitcoin has dipped as much as 22 per cent in five days, coming down to levels last observed in 2020.

Binance confirmed on Wednesday that it was backing out from the FTX acquisition deal, which would have covered FTX’s liquidity crunch.

The crypto platform Binance on Tuesday announced that it has signed a non-binding agreement to fully acquire its rival FTX. But backed out from the deal. 

“As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of [FTX],” Binance said in a tweet.

Binance dominates the USD 1 trillion crypto industry, with over 120 million users. With FTX acquisition, its clout in the industry will be further strengthened.

In a statement Binance said, “Every time a major player in an industry fails, retail consumers will suffer. We have seen over the last several years that the crypto ecosystem is becoming more resilient and we believe in time that outliers that misuse user funds will be weeded out by the free market.”

As crypto investors continue to pull out from their riskier assets as interest rates jump, the cryptocurrency market continues to fall drastically.

In the past day, global crypto market cap has dipped under USD 1 trillion (according to CoinGecko).

Bitcoin was trading at under USD 16,000 yesterday.