Key Takeaways
- FTX is in talks with Bithumb a couple of potential acquisition, a brand new report from Bloomberg signifies.
- The 2 corporations have reportedly been in superior talks for a number of months. A Bithumb spokesperson commented that nothing may very well be confirmed “at this stage.”
- FTX appears to be on a buying spree; it not too long ago acquired crypto lending platform BlockFi after it suffered a liquidity disaster.
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Main crypto trade FTX is reportedly negotiating a possible acquisition of prime South Korean trade Bithumb. No deal has been confirmed as of but.
Superior Talks
Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire retains increasing.
In keeping with Bloomberg, international crypto buying and selling platform FTX is in superior talks to purchase prime South Korean crypto trade Bithumb. Whereas no deal has been introduced but, each corporations have allegedly been in discussions for a number of months.
When requested for remark, a Bithumb spokesperson said nothing may very well be confirmed “at this stage.”
Bithumb is among the prime centralized crypto exchanges in South Korea, together with Upbit and Coinone. Established in 2014, it at present lists 188 cryptocurrencies. Knowledge from CoinGecko show that Bithumb reached over $3 billion in every day buying and selling quantity in late November 2021; the quantity has now come right down to roughly $558 million.
The collapse of outstanding crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital has led a number of crypto corporations to battle with liquidity, with a few of them (resembling crypto lending agency Celsius and crypto trade platform Voyager Digital) pausing buyer withdrawals and submitting for chapter.
FTX CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, nevertheless, has taken on a brand new position as the crypto business’s lender of final resort. By his numerous corporations, Bankman-Fried has supplied credit score to Voyager (pre-bankruptcy submitting) and purchased BlockFi. He has additionally said that over $2 billion is able to deploy for additional bailouts.
The Bithumb acquisition appears unlikely to be because of latest market turmoil, contemplating talks have allegedly been ongoing for a number of months. Slightly, FTX may very well be wanting into increasing its presence in South Korea in a transfer harking back to its 2020 buy of Blockfolio.
Disclosure: On the time of writing, the writer of this piece owned ETH and a number of other different cryptocurrencies.