Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $17,000 on Nov. 9 as rumors spread over crypto exchange Binance exiting a deal to buy embattled competitor FTX.
Binance CEO: “Do not trade FTT”
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $16,936 on Bitstamp before rebounding.
The latest dive hit an already shaky market, which had reacted badly to news that FTX had asked Binance for financial assistance.
In a note to staff shared on Twitter, Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (known as “CZ” in the crypto industry), told them to refrain from trading FTX’s in-house FTT (FTT) token.
“I want to remind everyone: DO NOT trade FTT tokens. If you have a bag, you have a bag,” it read.
While he said that he “would not comment” on the FTX takeover deal, an unnamed source subsequently told industry news outlet CoinDesk that Binance had doubts over going through with it.
This in turn pressured crypto market sentiment, leading to a drop which saw large-scale losses across Bitcoin and altcoins.
Liquidations told the story, with a total of $860 million worth of long and short positions wiped out in the 24 hours to the time of writing, according to monitoring resource Coinglass.
FTT/USD traded at just $3.60 on the day, down from $22 just two days…
