How Binance’s plan to buy FTX unfolded in a matter of days

In a dramatic move that concluded a series of back-and-forth exchanges between the CEOs of both businesses, cryptocurrency exchange Binance reached a non-binding agreement on Tuesday to acquire rival cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

The following are the most significant changes in the long-standing partnership between Binance and FTX:

* According to CoinDesk, Binance made an undisclosed investment in FTX, a derivatives exchange at the time, in December 2019. Additionally, Binance acquired long holdings in FTT, the native cryptocurrency of FTX. According to Fortune, Binance revealed in July 2021 that it was selling its share in FTX. According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, as part of the exit, Binance received the equivalent of $2.1 billion in Binance's stablecoin and FTT. Nov. 2: The crypto news site CoinDesk reported on a leaked balance sheet from Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, and his cryptocurrency trading company Alameda Research, which still has a tight relationship with FTX. Of the $14.6 billion in assets held by Alameda, $3.66 billion are stored in "unlocked" FTT, according to a CoinDesk article.

The report's veracity and the source of the compromised balance sheet were both unable to be independently confirmed by Reuters. However, investors soon discovered that FTX, the token's biggest customer, looked to be excessively reliant on purchases from FTT, and that FTT's value was similarly heavily reliant on purchases from Alameda.

* Nov. 6, 9:32 a.m. ET: Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda, stated in a tweet that just a portion of the city's corporate companies were represented by the "balance sheet info which has been circulating recently." According to her, the company's assets total more than $10 billion and are not included in the CoinDesk report.

* November 6, 10:47 a.m. ET: On Sunday, Zhao tweeted that Binance will sell its FTT holdings "because to recent facts that have come to light," but he did not clarify which revelations he was referring to or how much of the token Binance held. This raised concerns.

* Nov. 7: Bankman-Fried claimed that "a competitor is trying to go after us with false rumors" in a string of tweets on Monday.

FTX is good. Having assets is fine, he remarked.

In a subsequent tweet, he mentioned Zhao by name and wrote, "I'd love it, @cz binance, if we could work together for the ecosystem."

* Nov. 8: According to a message provided by Bankman-Fried to workers that was viewed by Reuters, in the 72 hours preceding Tuesday morning, FTX had observed withdrawals totaling almost $6 billion.

Bankman-Fried stated that withdrawals have effectively been halted in a post on Tuesday morning.

After 11 a.m. ET, Bankman-Fried tweeted that FTX had "came to an agreement on a strategic acquisition with Binance for FTX.com" and that all assets would be covered 1:1 while teams worked to process the backlog of withdrawal requests.

Zhao tweeted that FTX is experiencing "a serious liquidity shortage," and Binance has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire FTX.com, except FTX's U.S. business, in order to safeguard users.