This is a weekly feature that will look back at the week that was in crypto, blockchain and Web3, and offer insights and analysis. Check out last week’s here.
If you are a crypto investor hoping for a stabilization of the industry, Tuesday was not your day.
Crypto already has seen its share of tumult this year, but things seemed to hit a different level when tokens started sliding this week on concerns around , the world’s fourth-largest exchange by volume.
Then, in about a day, the crypto world was turned upside down, as CEO his company would be buying FTX.com — the non-U.S. exchange associated with — due to a “significant liquidity crunch.”
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The news wasn’t just noteworthy because it was the largest exchange buying one of its biggest competitors. It also is an illustration of how quickly things can change in a market already associated with a breakneck pace.
Don’t blink
Earlier this year, FTX raised $400 million at a valuation. According to Crunchbase, the company has raised nearly $2 billion with investors that include the , Singapore’s and . Zhao and Binance were early investors in FTX as well.
FTX CEO and crypto billionaire had become one of the industry’s most dominant faces as he seemingly started a one-man crusade to help lead the market out of its crypto winter.
In June, it was that Bankman-Fried’s quantitative crypto trading firm provided a $500 million loan to . Voyager for bankruptcy a few weeks later, and in September FTX put in the winning bid for the assets of the distressed lender.
It was even in June that Bankman-Fried may have his eye on buying asset trading platform .
In July, FTX provided a $250 million line of credit to lender which includes an option to buy. In a recent , Bankman-Fried said the exchange giant has at least $1 billion to use on acquisitions and bailouts.
Now that same exchange giant — known for co-hosting its invite-only Crypto Bahamas four-day conference in the spring — faced liquidity issues before being bought by its biggest competitor.
Crypto moves fast … well, except for its long winters.
Further reading:
Binance Signs Letter Of Intent To Buy FTX.com
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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