Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below $17,000 on Nov. 9 as rumors spread of Binance exiting a deal to buy competitor FTX.
Binance CEO: “Don’t trade with FTT”
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that the BTC/USD pair hit $16,936 on Bitstamp before rallying.
The latest drop hit an already shaky market, which had reacted poorly to the news that FTX had asked Binance for financial help.
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 internal token FTT (FTT).
“I want to remind everyone: DO NOT trade FTT tokens. If you have tokens, you have an exchange,” it read.
Although he said he would “not comment” on the FTX acquisition deal, an unnamed source later told industry news outlet CoinDesk that Binance had doubts about going ahead with the deal.
This, in turn, pressured cryptocurrency market sentiment, leading to a drop that saw large-scale losses in Bitcoin and altcoins.
The liquidations were eloquent, with a total of $860 million in long and short positions eliminated in the 24 hours to the time of writing, according to tracking resource Coinglass.
FTT/USD traded at just $3.60 on the day, down from $22 two days ago, leading to comparisons to Terra’s LUNA token debacle.
“Honestly, it feels weird, but things will be better from now on,” forecast Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of the trading platform Eight.
“You need to make mistakes to improve a system and that’s what happened with Mt. Gox, LUNA and now FTX. It may seem like we’re on the brink of collapsing the entire crypto space, but Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are here to stay.”
The day of the data of the IPC stalks the cryptocurrencies
With the cryptocurrency community distracted by internal issues, few paid attention to the print of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) on November 10.
A source of volatility in itself, the event usually gets all the attention, but even the US mid-term elections took a backseat this week.
“Waiting to see how the IPC and how the market reacts on Thursday,” trader Josh Rager summarized in part of a tweet on Nov. 8.
The US Dollar Index gave up modest gains on the day, dipping below 110, while both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index remain afloat.
“It is clear that Bitcoin is back to buying price for long term price, but I am happy to wait to see how the market reacts to the FED handling.”
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