Binance CEO not interested in Alameda’s offer to buy up its FTT holdings

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, appears disinterested in Alameda Research’s offer to buy out the crypto exchange’s FTX Token (FTT) holdings.

Zhao responded to a question on Nov. 7 on Twitter asking if he would take up the offer by Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison to buy Binance’s FTT holdings for $22 per token. Zhao said: “I think we will stay in the free market.”

The offer from Ellison came after Zhao said Binance would be liquidating its FTT position due to “post-exit risk management” as part of “learning from LUNA,” on Nov. 6.

At the time, Zhao said he would try to sell the tokens in a way that “minimizes market impact” and said the token sales would take “a few months to complete” due to it holding around $2.1 billion United States dollar equivalent in the exchange’s stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) and FTT.

Binance declined to comment on the matter. 

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Meanwhile, there have been concerns that rumors around Alameda’s finances, Binance’s impending FTT liquidation and Zhao’s comments could be the possible catalyst for major withdrawals from FTX, with reported data from Nansen showing $451 million worth of stablecoins leaving the exchange.

Users took to Twitter on Nov. 7 complaining of long wait times with FTX addressing the complaints, assuring users everything was running smoothly.

Bankman-Fried also pointed the finger at an unnamed “competitor” on Nov. 7, saying “a competitor is trying to go after the cryptocurrency exchange with false rumors.”

Zhao has reiterated that he’s not in a “fight” with FTX or Bankman-Fried, tweeting on Nov. 7, “I spend my energy building, not fighting” and attempted to dispel what he called “conspiracy theories” that he “somehow orchestrated this whole thing.”

Analysis by Cointelegraph on Nov. 7 pointed to a bearish pattern that could see FTT sink by 30% and early on Nov. 8, the FTT price dove to around $15.40 from $22 and is currently down 29.5% in 24 hours at the time of writing.