Binance to buy troubled rival FTX

finextra.com:

FTX's billionaire chief Sam Bankman-Fried and his counterpart at Binance, Changpeng Zhao, both took to Twitter to confirm the non-binding agreement.

"This afternoon, FTX asked for our help. There is a significant liquidity crunch. To protect users, we signed a non-binding LOI, intending to fully acquire http://FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch," writes Zhao.

The agreement does not involve the US arms of either company, with Bankman-Fried insisting that FTX US's "withdrawals are and have been live, is fully backed 1:1, and operating normally".FTX has faced up to a surge in withdrawals over recent days, raising concerns about its ability to survive. The exchange's native FTT token fell by 30% on Tuesday, days after Binance said it will dump its holdings of the token.Tweets Bankman-Fried: "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."