Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao talked about the troubled assets in the crypto asset sector. He also made statements for FTX and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which has recently come to the fore with its bankruptcy. Here are the details…
Binance has become a major icon in a time of turmoil
cryptocoin.com As we reported, Changpeng Zhao announced that he had set up a $1 billion fund for platforms that had collapsed. He also said he would make another bid for Voyager Digital, the bankrupt lending platform. “If that’s not enough, we can allocate more,” Zhao, also known as CZ, said in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday. Zhao has been a key figure for crypto in a time of turmoil. Sam Bankman-Fried’s tweets highlighting concerns about his health from rival FTX exchange and trading house Alameda Research precipitated their collapse.
Since then, its exchange has consolidated its position as the world’s largest crypto trading platform following the chaotic bankruptcy of FTX. Zhao announced plans for an industry recovery fund last week to help strong projects experiencing liquidity crunch. He said the goal was to prevent the contamination from deletion of FTX. In an interview on Thursday, Zhao stated that a blog post about the fund is coming soon. He said Binance has spoken to a number of industry players about it.
Pointing to the industry’s need to be bailed out, Zhao also stated that the funding could amount to more than $1 billion. While announcing that it will be a transparent fund, he said “there will be no deals behind closed doors”. He explained that the industry needs bailout today, not in 2023. For this reason, he states that he conducts meetings with industry players every day. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, this year’s deep crypto debacle wiped out nearly $80 billion from Zhao’s personal wealth.
Discussions on Genesis continue
Binance is also in talks with US-based cryptocurrency broker Genesis Global, which is in talks with investors for a new round of funding to avoid bankruptcy after facing challenges in its lending arm. Zhao said that the Genesis collapse could only affect some of the big institutional players and that the industry will survive despite the challenges.
Comments on FTX, Grayscale, and Coinbase
Zhao said the exchange, which is at the center of the current drama unfolding in cryptocurrency markets, had been in talks to acquire FTX before its crash, but eventually backed off after reports that Bankman-Fried’s assets were under investigation by US authorities. Zhao said that Binance does not have access to all of FTX’s books or trading history and cannot rely on the information provided. The exchange said it plans to look at FTX’s assets as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings.
Zhao also stated that he blames himself for not posting the tweets on FTX sooner. He stated that as an industry, they allowed FTX to grow so much, they did not ask any questions. About Coinbase, he used the following statements:
Coinbase has been in service for 10 years and its public offering has taken place. I’m sure they are powerful, controlled by major corporations. But we don’t see that, I think we should see it in Blockchain.
Deleted Coinbase tweet
Finally, Zhao talked about the tweet he sent and deleted about the Grayscale Bitcoins that Coinbase holds. In the tweet in question, a news source indicated that Grayscale had 635,000 Bitcoins left on Coinbase. Another news source pointed out that there were 600 thousand BTC left on Coinbase four months ago. With this tweet, Zhao said that he did not claim to have any liquidity issues at Coinbase. He explained that he only drew attention to two news items. However, he said that he thought that the Bitcoins kept in the stock market and the Bitcoins stored in the exchange were kept separately and deleted his tweet.
