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by Animats 1326 days ago
From the announcement, Binance is not definitively buying FTX. They've agreed to discuss acquisition and do due diligence. Which means finding out how deep a hole FTX is in before proceeding.

As a rule of thumb, about half of announced M&A deals don't happen.

FTX is a licensed money transmitter in many US states. In some states they need regulatory approval for an acquisition. Binance is headquartered in the Cayman Islands. Regulatory approval will not be easy to get. US bankruptcy courts will have a say, too. FTX acquired another bankrupt crypto company just two months ago, and the bankruptcy judge in that case may have something to say about it.

Bloomberg has a story.[1]

WSJ has a story.[2]

This is going to be a big mess.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-08/crypto-ex...

[2] https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-news-today-11-...]

2 comments

> FTX is a licensed money transmitter in many US states.

FTX.us, a separate entity not involved in the transaction, is a licensed money transmitter in the US. US persons are not allowed to use FTX.

> FTX does not onboard or provide services to corporate accounts of entities located in, established in, or a resident of the United States of America, Cuba, Crimea and Sevastopol, Luhansk People's Republic, Donetsk People's Republic, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, or North Korea. FTX also does not onboard corporate accounts located in or a resident of Antigua or Barbuda. FTX also does not onboard any users from Ontario, and FTX does not permit non-professional investors from Hong Kong purchasing certain products. [1]

[1] https://help.ftx.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042412652-Location...

They are buying FTX - not FTX.US, I would imagine it is fine.
They have several corporate entities.

* "FTX Trading LTD is incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda, and headquartered in The Bahamas."

* West Realm Shire Services Inc. - incorporated in Delaware.

CNBC now says that Binance is only trying to buy the non-US operations of FTX.

FTX.US terms say "Title to cryptocurrency represented in your FTX.US Account shall at all times remain with you and shall not transfer to FTX.US." Are US customers having Bitcoin withdrawal problems? If they are, that's theft.

From what I've read FTX.US has no withdrawal issues (yet)