Cryptocurrencies suffered a second day of sharp declines on Wednesday as investors remained concerned about the stability of the sector and the financial health of the FTX exchange, despite plans for a bailout deal by its biggest rival, Binance.
Cryptocurrency giant Binance signed a non-binding agreement Tuesday to buy the non-US unit of FTX to help cover a “liquidity crunch” at the rival exchange.
The proposed deal between the two rivals followed a week of speculation about the financial health of FTX, which snowballed into $6 billion of withdrawals in the 72 hours leading up to Tuesday’s deal, raising questions about the solvency of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
FTX and Binance did not disclose the terms of their deal and markets are facing new uncertainties about whether it will go ahead.
No financial details of the transaction are known.
The news had an impact on the New York Stock Exchange where shares of crypto asset platforms fell: Coinbase lost 12.82% and Robinhood more than 17% shortly before the close of operations on Tuesday.
How much is 1 bitcoin worth now?
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, was down 5.3% at $17,559 after a 10% slump on Tuesday that marked its worst day since mid-August and its worst level since November 2020.
The new crash of bitcoin occurs just one year after its all-time highs of almost $69,000. In this way, an accumulated loss of almost 75% of its value in November 2021 is recorded.
On his side, ether, the cryptocurrency linked to the Ethereum blockchain, collapsed more than 21% to $1,945.
With information from Reuters and AFP.