Binance to sell FTX token holdings, Alameda CEO says leaked balance sheet is incomplete

Quick Take

  • Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research, sought to clarify information in a report by CoinDesk about the crypto firm’s balance sheet.
  • Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said later Sunday morning that the exchange would move to sell its FTT token holdings.
  • Ellison then offered to buy those tokens.

Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison said Sunday that leaked information about the firm's balance sheet only tells part of the story.

On Nov. 2, CoinDesk reported that a leaked balance sheet from Alameda listed $3.66 billion in "unlocked FTT," referring to the token of crypto exchange FTX, as well as $2.16 billion worth of "FTT collateral." The leaked balance sheet showed a total of $14.6 billion in assets and some $8 billion in liabilities, which include $7.4 billion worth of loans.

The leaked balance sheet and the FTT holdings further illustrated the close links between the two companies.

Ellison tweeted earlier today that the leaked information on Alameda's balance sheet misses billions worth of other assets.

Ellison continued: "The balance sheet breaks out a few of our biggest long positions; we obviously have hedges that aren’t listed. Given the tightening in the crypto credit space this year, we’ve returned most of our loans by now.”

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Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said later that the firm would begin selling off its FTT holdings "due to recent revelations that have came to light." Zhao didn't clarify exactly how much of FTT this would entail, though he said Binance previously received about $2.1 billion worth BUSD and FTT "[a]s part of Binance’s exit from FTX equity last year."

Ellison responded, offering to buy Binance’s FTT holdings at $22 per token.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried also responded to CZ's post: "I wish the best to everyone driving the industry forward. I respect the hell out of what y'all have done to build the industry as we see it today, whether or not they reciprocate, and whether or not we use the same methods. Including CZ."

The public announcements on Sunday sent FTT's price gyrating, according to TradingView data.


Disclaimer: The former CEO and majority shareholder of The Block has disclosed a series of loans from former FTX and Alameda founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.

Editor

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