Binance to buy FTX in major cryptocurrency exchange merger

Public squabble between the two largest offshore exchanges' bosses led to run on FTX and forced sale

The two largest offshore cryptocurrency exchanges are merging, after a week of public squabbling between Binance's chief executive, Changpeng Zhao, and FTX's boss, Sam Bankman-Fried, triggered a bank run at the latter's exchange and an embarrassing forced sale on Tuesday.

This afternoon, FTX asked for our help," tweeted Zhao. There is a significant liquidity crunch. To protect users, we signed a non-binding [letter of intent], intending to fully acquire FTX.com."