Yesterday, rumors surfaced that El Salvador had exposure to the ailing FTX crypto exchange, and a crypto enthusiasts were left wondering whether the alleged situation would cause further contagion in the industry. However, as it turns out, President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele, also known as “The Bitcoin President”, claims to have never had any ties to the FTX crypto exchange, and thanked God for keeping him and his small, Latin American country out of trouble.
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Man, the amount of misinformation is insane.I exchanged messages with President Nayib a few moments ago. He said "we don’t have any Bitcoin in FTX and we never had any business with them. Thank God!" https://t.co/CrM5wd24Ha— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 10, 2022
Where Did the Rumors Originate?
The events leading up to FTX’s “liquidity crunch” has left Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao rather astonished. The exchange had been preparing to acquire its beleaguered rival, however, just one day after submitting the proposal, the Binance analyst team outlined that FTX’s books are beyond repair, citing “miscontrolled customer funds”.
Later, multi-billionaire and a prominent investor in the crypto space Mike Novogratz shared a meme which suggested that El Salvador alleged held 100% of the country’s Bitcoin (BTC) on the troubled FTX exchange. Following President Bukele’s rebuttal, Novogratz sent out an apology on Twitter earlier today, claiming that he simply fell for “fake news”, before going on to say that he is a big supporter of Nayib Bukele’s commitment to his plan of making Bitcoin (BTC) a part of everyday life in El Salvador.
Apologies to @nayibbukele and the people of El Salvador. I fell for ‘fake news’ and while I mentioned I hadn’t confirmed it, I should have. Thanks @cz_binance for pointing it out. I am a huge fan of what you are doing in El Salvador.— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) November 10, 2022
FTX Might Have Found Its Savior
In the wake of CZ’s decision to back Binance out of the deal, FTX Founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly gone to Tron’s (TRX) Justin Sun for succor. According to Reuters, Tron founder Justin Sun has reached an agreement with SBF, and will help the besieged platform with “billions of dollars in aid”. As revealed in recent reports that came to light, FTX has an $8bn hole in its books that must be addressed if the company is to stay in business.
Tron founder Justin Sun ready to give billions in aid to FTX - Bloomberg https://t.co/RemkT9RIri pic.twitter.com/CAFLTZT8cq— Reuters (@Reuters) November 11, 2022
On the Flipside
- President Nayib Bukele has not disclosed where the Latin American nation’s Bitcoin (BTC) stash is being held.
- El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) portfolio is at a 61% deficit, with an approximate loss of $65 million.
Why You Should Care
El Salvador is a pioneering country in the crypto space, after becoming the first in the world to install Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender more than a year ago.
Read more about the FTX (FTT) fiasco and what it means for crypto:
Bankman-Fried Apologizes for FTX (FTT) Crisis, Says Alameda Research Is “Winding Down Trading”
US Justice Department and SEC are Investigating the FTX Crisis