‘FTX is fine,’ Bankman-Fried insists as he appeals for Binance to work together

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried insisted his crypto exchange is "fine" after rival Binance announced it would start selling its holdings of FTX's FTT token.

"A competitor is trying to go after us with false rumors," Bankman-Fried tweeted. "FTX is fine. Assets are fine. FTX has enough to cover all client holdings. We don't invest client assets (even in treasuries). We have been processing all withdrawals, and will continue to be."

Tensions between Binance and FTX, two of the largest crypto exchanges, have burst into the open in recent weeks. After Bankman-Fried drew criticism from some in the industry last month for a blog post that proposed regulations for websites facilitating trading on decentralized exchanges, Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao — a fellow crypto billionaire — weighed in over the weekend.

On Sunday, Zhao had said his firm would begin selling off its FTT holdings "due to recent revelations that have came to light." His announcement came after a Nov. 2 CoinDesk report leaked balance sheet details from FTX's sister trading firm Alameda Research, which listed $3.66 billion in "unlocked FTT" and $2.16 billion worth of "FTT collateral." The leaked balance sheet showed a total of $14.6 billion in assets and some $8 billion in liabilities, which include $7.4 billion worth of loans.

Alameda response
Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison responded that the leaked balance sheet was only partially complete and missed billions of dollars worth of other assets. She also offered to buy Binance’s FTT holdings at $22 per token.