FTX Token Crashes 80% as Binance Moves to Acquire Struggling Rival
FTX's native token loses over $2 billion in value overnight as Binance announces a nonbinding deal to acquire the exchange's non-U.S. operations amid a severe liquidity crunch.
The FTT token plunges 80% in a single day, wiping out over $2 billion in market value as rival crypto giant Binance announces plans to acquire FTX's non-U.S. operations. The coin drops from roughly $22 on Monday to below $5 on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a massive sell-off that sends shockwaves throughout the broader digital asset market.
This nonbinding acquisition agreement follows severe liquidity crunches at FTX, a company that holds a staggering $32 billion valuation from an earlier funding round. Industry experts call the surprise deal the most dramatic in crypto history, noting that it effectively consolidates the two largest offshore exchanges into a single entity controlled by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
The turmoil extends far beyond FTT, as bitcoin and ethereum both sink more than 10%, while shares of major crypto platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood experience double-digit percentage drops. Binance originally backed FTX in 2019, but the collapse of this relationship leaves FTX's U.S. division— which accounts for just 5% of total revenue— operating independently while the rest of the company faces an uncertain future.