Former FTX spokesman Kevin O’Leary says he believes Binance intentionally took FTX out of business
Well-known former FTX spokesman Kevin O’Leary says he believes the bankrupt crypto exchange was intentionally overthrown by rival Binance, based on the deposed person’s claims. FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried and the actions of Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
O’Leary, an investor and “Shark Tank” star, made the assertion Wednesday while testifying before the Senate Banking Committee when asked for his opinion on why at FTX star failed.
“In my opinion, my personal opinion, these two giants that own the unregulated market together and develop these incredible businesses of growth are at war with each other. and one side deliberately excludes the other,” said O’Leary.
“Now, maybe there’s nothing wrong with that – maybe there’s nothing wrong with love and war,” he continued. “But Binance is now a huge, unregulated global monopoly. They’ve taken FTX out of business – now, lots of other reasons, I’m sure. But that’s opinion. my personal.”
O’Leary recalls Bankman-Fried telling him shortly after the FTX crash that the exchange spent up to $3 billion to buy back Binance’s 20% stake in his company because of the alleged Zhao. refuses to comply with regulatory requests from various jurisdictions, thus the FTX ban exists. remove license. The move, he said, has “shrunk the balance sheet.”
O’Leary also pointed out Zhao’s actions on November 6 when the CEO announced via Twitter that Binance is liquidating all remaining FTT tokens on its books, which are FTX proprietary tokens. . The “Shark Tank” investor said Zhao knew that move would “push the value of that coin down significantly” and “that’s exactly what happened.”
Zhao said in the same tweet thread at the time, “About any speculation as to whether this is a move against a competitor, it is not.”
Bankman-Fried, arrested Monday and currently jailed in the Bahamas on several charges related to the collapse of FTX, has also blamed Binance for his company’s downfall. O’Leary echoed some of the statements Bankman-Fried made in his prewritten testimony to Congress, which was collected and published by Forbes but never made by the founder of FTX due to his incarceration. hold several hours before the hearing.
START FOX BUSINESS BY CLICKING HERE
Binance did not immediately respond FOX business‘ asks for a response to O’Leary’s comment.
