Bitcoin price – live: Crypto market sees bounce as FTX boss outlines next steps
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Your support makes all the difference.The price of bitcoin has bounced back from a two-year low after the boss of the beleagured FTX cryptocurrency exchange apologised for his role in the crash and outlined his plans to rescue his company.
FTX suffered a “significant liquidity crunch” this week when customers rushed to withdraw billions of dollars worth of assets due to fears relating to its digital token FTT.
As the world’s third largest exchange by trading volume, the uncertainty had repercussions for the rest of the market.
Rival exchange Binance initially sought a rescue deal, with both FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, announcing a non-binding letter of intent for the takeover.
“Our teams are working on clearing out the withdrawal backlog as is... But the important thing is that customers are protected,” Mr Bankman-Fried tweeted.
However this fell through late on Wednesday.
You can follow all the latest crypto news, price developments and market analysis in our live coverage below.
Binance boss says El Salvador rumours are ‘misinformation'
Rumours that the bitcoin holdings of El Salvador may have been compromised by the potential collapse of the FTX exchange are apparently untrue.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao claims to have spoken to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who reportedly told him that none of the Central American country’s BTC investment was held on the FTX exchange.
Bitcoin price crash the ‘double bottom’ for this cycle?
The latest price crash is reminiscent of previous market patterns for bitcoin, according to the pseudonymous analyst PlanB.
The cryptocurrency figure, who rose to prominence through his stock-to-flow price model, has likened this capitulation to “double bottom” seen in 2015, which preceded a record-breaking bull run that resulted in a new all-time high two years later.
PlanB has been known to be overly optimistic in his price projections, having previously predicted that the 2021 top would be over $100,000, however his sense of which way the market is moving has usually been fairly accurate in the past.
Explaining the current crypto chaos
If you’re wondering how $200 billion can be wiped from the global crypto market in the space of just a few days, you can read a full rundown of what led us here.
It essentially begins with a report last week written by CoinDesk’s Ian Allison. It centres around the FTX exchange, its founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, and has drawn in other major players in the space like his rival, Binance boss CZ.
With the market still in flux, and the situation at FTX still unresolved, this explainer could well be out of date before the weekend.
Bitcoin price crash: Why is the crypto market in turmoil?
The run on the FTX crypto exchange, combined with the failed takeover attempt from Binance, has resulted in chaos for the market
FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried apologises
Sam Bankman-Fried has spoken out publicly for the first time since the Binance deal fell through.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, the FTX boss apologised to users for financial irregularities with the exchange that resulted in the current chaos.
“I‘m sorry. That’s the biggest thing. I fucked up, and should have done better,” he wrote.
“I also should have been communicating more very recently... right now, my #1 priority – by far – is doing right by users. And I’m going to do everything I can to do that. To take responsibility, and do what I can.”
Binance abandons FTX takeover
Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market continues to plunge after Binance announced that it is abandoning its takeover of FTX.
The world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume cited “mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations” in its decision to ditch the rescue deal.
“Every time a major player in an industry fails, retail consumers will suffer,” Binance said in a statement.
“We have seen over the last several years that the crypto ecosystem is becoming more resilient and we believe in time that outliers that misuse user funds will be weeded out by the free market.”
Bitcoin price falls to two year low
Bitcoin has tumbled below $17,000, marking the lowest point since November 2020.
The price collapse coincides with a market-wide sell-off that has left the overall cryptocurrency market facing losses not seen in nearly six months when the beginning of the bear market saw more than $1 trillion wiped from the combined market cap.
Cardano co-founder weighs in on crypto chaos
Charles Hoskinson, who co-founded Ethereum before going on to co-found Cardano, has offered his thoughts on the current market turmoil.
It seems he is not entirely confident that Binance’s proposed takeover of FTX will go through without a hitch.
“There is a non zero probability that the acquisition proposal that Binance has put on the table to bail out FTX will not succeed because it will fail due diligence,” he said in a video posted to Twitter overnight.
“If that’s the case, because of the size and scale of FTX, it’s very likely that that will cascade through the cryptocurrency market.”
You can watch his full post here:
Bitcoin price crash in context
After seeing an all-time price high last November, bitcoin is now facing two-year lows.
Here’s how its rise and fall (and rise and fall again) looks since November 2020.
Crypto market suffers heavy losses
Here’s a snapshot of the market this morning, courtesy of CoinMarketCap’s price index. There’s a lot of red.
Binance CEO and FTX founder confirm deal in progress
Here’s what both Binance CEO CZ and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried had to say about the potential takeover, which would see the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume take over the world’s third largest.
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