[Updated] FTX

[OmegaStarScream]

If you check Twitter and r/CryptoCurrency, you'll see a lot of warnings about FTX[1], especially now after CZ decided to liquidate FTT (FTX token).

I don't claim to know what's going on, as I'm just sharing some of the things I've read the last few hours, but just to be safe and even though FTX CEO denied the rumors[2], it may still be a good idea to withdraw your funds from the exchange, for now at least.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/yo4vf7/serious_ftx_rumors_securing_your_crypto/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/yo6kxe/ftx_ceo_pretty_much_confirms_mass_exodus_from_the/

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[o_e_l_e_o]

even though FTX CEO denied the rumors

This means nothing.

Here is some of the content Celsius was putting out in the days before they suspended all withdrawals:
https://nitter.it/CelsiusNetwork/status/1535669755042045958#m - continuing to advertise their services.
https://piped.mha.fi/watch?v=GyRO_W-utXs - an AMA, including a section at 9:30 about why they are so transparent.

And let's take a look at Voyager:
https://nitter.it/investvoyager/status/1536194363767902208#m - they claim to be "unaffected by market conditions", 3 days before taking out an emergency $200 million and 15,000 BTC loan.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/voyager-digital-provides-asset-risk-114500760.html - also claiming to be "transparent", "low risk", and in a "strong position".

Both these platforms then suspended withdrawals and then later filed for bankruptcy, with everyone who still had coins on them not yet being refunded a single satoshi.

Do not believe the CEO tweeting that everything is fine. Of course they will say that, since saying anything else will just accelerate the bank run they are already experiencing. Get your coins in to your own wallets now.

[examplens]

Do not believe the CEO tweeting that everything is fine. Of course they will say that, since saying anything else will just accelerate the bank run they are already experiencing. Get your coins in to your own wallets now.

Of course, you shouldn't believe everything a CEO writes, it is certain that each of them will moderate the matter and try to calm the tension.
On the other hand, we have the Binance CEO, or whoever is behind their official Twitter account which with its big influence causes additional panic related to FTX.
https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1589374530413215744

I personally don't like a single thing in all of this. The big impact of the biggest player or another fiasco with the exchange will certainly have serious consequences.

[o_e_l_e_o]

There is no doubt Binance have caused a large amount of this panic, but I'm not sure what else they should have done? Dumping their tokens in secret and then announcing it after would have been worse I think. At least this way FTX users are aware of what is going on and are being given some warning to get their coins off the exchange before its too late.

Unless of course CZ is also shorting FTT, and by kicking off this bank run is now making huge profits. That's definitely the kind of shady shit that Binance would pull.

Either way, the CEOs are making huge profits at the expense of the average users. Stop letting them.

[Husires]

The fact that the platform survived in the past months is a sign of wellness that it will continue for the coming months, but the user must think several times, especially if he plans to leave his money in the platform.
This problem will be solved, the platform is famous and the liquidity problems will not lead to catastrophic results, but past experiences have proven that it is the customer who will pay the price for the platforms' stupidity/greed.

[dkbit98]

Unless of course CZ is also shorting FTT, and by kicking off this bank run is now making huge profits. That's definitely the kind of shady shit that Binance would pull.

Is it really possible to make leverage trading and shorting shitcoins like FTT?
I just can't believe that crap like FTT is still worth around $22 despite all the negative campaign surrounding it.
Since Binance still have the biggest trading volume for FTT than anything is possible, but I just checked Sam posting on twitter and he is saying that everything is fine, and competition is spreading false rumors about them.
Honestly, I never liked both of this guys (CZ and Sam), and this looks like some high level stupid chess game they are playing against each other.

[suzanne5223]

but just to be safe and even though FTX CEO denied the rumors

Although the information shared by CZ and some crypto influencer was denied by the FTX CEO but one thing I learned so far from my cryptocurrency journey is that when 3-4 powerful or reputable people claim about something while the company in the subject said its all rumor what the company is accused of is true.
The issue may be hyped but the company is having related issues. I will advise people to wise and stay away from FTX for now.

I also write a tweet about how it will go wrong for Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX

[OmegaStarScream]

The block reported a few minutes ago, that FTX disabled withdrawals[1]. Can someone using the platform confirm if that's true or not?

Because when checking FTX status page, it seems like everything is fine[2].

[1] https://www.theblock.co/post/184176/ftx-appears-to-have-stopped-processing-withdrawals-on-chain-data-show
[2] https://ftx.com/status

[DaCryptoRaccoon]

Probably nothing, Right?  

https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1173418810918916096



Binance are the bigger player in this situation, We could see massive liquidations in the alt markets things that have futures and degen traders to part with their capital.

Buckle up lads... Exchange wars are here.

[OmegaStarScream]

Well, this is definitely not something I was expecting:

Binance Says It Is Buying FTX
Crypto exchange Binance said Tuesday it signed a letter of intent to acquire rival FTX Trading, which it said was facing a liquidity crunch.

FTX said it agreed to a strategic transaction with Binance, pending due diligence.
-snip-

Let's hope that Binance doesn't pull the plug on the deal, otherwise FTX is finished.

[examplens]

Let's hope that Binance doesn't pull the plug on the deal, otherwise FTX is finished.

As they say, FTX asked Binance for help cover the liquidity crunch
https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1590013613586411520?s=20&t=0yfwU2oLZpEaG8_BHcz3_g

therefore, in order to avoid another big crash, we will be satisfied because Binance is strengthening its dominance. I'm not sure if I should be happy with this turn of events.

[darkangel11]

Again exchanges prove to be the weakest point of bitcoin. We had exchanges that got hacked (mt.gox), Scammed and stole (btc-e, quadriga), got shut down by the government like the exchanges in China, now FTX got insolvent and had to be sold to binance to avoid bankruptcy...

Every time this happens there's a widespread panic even when people know they shouldn't hold money on centralized exchanges.

Not your keys, not your bitcoins!

[The Cryptovator]

I am not getting what happened exactly right now. If Binance wants to acquire FTX then the market should be good. At least do dump. But seems suddenly the market crashed. I just looking for the reason actually. It was a good move for traders if Binance buy the FTX exchange. Also, BNB skyrocketed a few hours back. Just surprising to me everything.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

Probably nothing, Right?  

https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1173418810918916096

Why doesn't he explain to us as well why his shitcoin seemed stable and was pumping too at a certain time, yet the rest of the market was plunging?

therefore, in order to avoid another big crash,

It already happened. Cz got what he wanted.

we will be satisfied because Binance is strengthening its dominance. I'm not sure if I should be happy with this turn of events.

it doesn't look good to me if there are no major competitors to Binance.

[dkbit98]

The block reported a few minutes ago, that FTX disabled withdrawals[1]. Can someone using the platform confirm if that's true or not?

On my account everything looked normal, but I don't have any coins left on exchange so I can't verify if withdrawals are still working or not.

Let's hope that Binance doesn't pull the plug on the deal, otherwise FTX is finished.

This makes you wonder how many more exchanges are on life support by Binance who is providing them fake trading volume, and I am sure it's not only FTX.
I am not saying FTX and other exchanges are not shady, but Binance is certainly showing top volume out of all exchanges, and they like to put their noses in everything.
CZ seems really desperate to crush any competition and have full control, maybe he is a bit more inspired by his communist regime policies

[tabas]

There are 1-6 Tweets from Sam @SBF_FTX to clarify things on what has happened which included the withdrawals and were posted 6 hours ago. And it as follows with the quotes:

1) Hey all: I have a few announcements to make.

Things have come full circle, and http://FTX.com’s first, and last, investors are the same: we have come to an agreement on a strategic transaction with Binance for http://FTX.com (pending DD etc.).

2) Our teams are working on clearing out the withdrawal backlog as is. This will clear out liquidity crunches; all assets will be covered 1:1. This is one of the main reasons we’ve asked Binance to come in. It may take a bit to settle etc. -- we apologize for that.

3) But the important thing is that customers are protected.

4) A *huge* thank you to CZ, Binance, and all of our supporters. This is a user-centric development that benefits the entire industry. CZ has done, and will continue to do, an incredible job of building out the global crypto ecosystem, and creating a freer economic world.

5) I know that there have been rumors in media of conflict between our two exchanges, however Binance has shown time and again that they are committed to a more decentralized global economy while working to improve industry relations with regulators. We are in the best of hands.

6) (Note that http://FTX.us and http://Binance.us–two separate companies–are not currently impacted by this.  http://FTX.us’s withdrawals are and have been live, is fully backed 1:1, and operating normally.)

Again exchanges prove to be the weakest point of bitcoin. We had exchanges that got hacked (mt.gox), Scammed and stole (btc-e, quadriga), got shut down by the government like the exchanges in China, now FTX got insolvent and had to be sold to binance to avoid bankruptcy...

Every time this happens there's a widespread panic even when people know they shouldn't hold money on centralized exchanges.

Not your keys, not your bitcoins!

I agree that it all lies to this. Whenever there are dramas like these from exchanges and also hacks, the market plunges and reacts so fast. It's always the best not to trust them with your bitcoins there.

[bbc.reporter]

I am very skeptical if CZ can really acquire FTX very easily. This might be blocked by some politicians from the executive level and also with the backing of political voices from the legislative level. I do not wish this, however, FTX might be left to die unless it can find an American company for a bail out.

What I speculate might happen is much of the derivative traders in the cryptospace might go back to Bitmex and Arthur Hayes will become the king of cryptoderivatives again. Bitmex has settled all of their legal problems with the government already.

[Darker45]

I'm amused at people who earlier brushed off rumors that FTX is probably silently insolvent. Lines like "FTX is a strong exchange," "FTX is popular," "FTX makes a lot of money," "FTX is a huge exchange," "FTX is solid," "FTX is one of the top crypto exchanges," "FTX is too big to fall/fail," and so on. They haven't learned their lessons.

And between SBF doing his urgent damage control versus CZ doing his greedy moves plus washing dirty linens in public, SBF is really bound to lose. CZ's moves created an extremely strong pressure that FTX couldn't possibly withstand. A perfect and lethal combination of CZ's almost $600 billion of FTT to dump in full view of the entire crypto public plus his popular public image with a big and strong body of followers who will definitely be taking a cue from his actions would certainly kill FTX.

Poor SBF! CZ is the man who knows the game! But he isn't the hero here. They're both villains.

[o_e_l_e_o]

They haven't learned their lessons.

And they won't from this one either. The Celsius rumors were dismissed as FUD, and then they collapsed. The Terra rumors were dismissed as FUD, and then they collapsed. The Voyager rumors. The FTX rumors. Current rumors about BlockFi are being dismissed, but I don't think they are in a particularly healthy situation either. Hell, even Coinbase only survived by laying off 20% of their employees.

I've said it before; it does not matter at all how reputable an exchange is, how long they have been operating, or how big they are. There is no such thing as too big to fail. This applies to all crypto exchanges, Binance included. Are all the people chasing promises of ridiculous interest rates and obviously unsustainable growth on these platforms too young to remember 2008? How an investment bank with almost $700 billion in assets (which is twice the market cap of all the bitcoin in circulation, so FAR more than Binance is worth) which had existed for over 150 years failed? I suppose an endless stream of naive teenagers new to the space would explain why these platforms keep attracting more users while simultaneously causing millions of users to lose everything.

[pixie85]

2) Our teams are working on clearing out the withdrawal backlog as is. This will clear out liquidity crunches; all assets will be covered 1:1. This is one of the main reasons we’ve asked Binance to come in. It may take a bit to settle etc. -- we apologize for that.

To simplify: we are insolvent, we didn't have our customer's money and had to borrow from CZ, In exchange CZ will take over FTX but it will take some time to do the paperwork.
Please have patience, I fucked up.