Binance, Tron CEOs Confirm They Are Eyeing FTX Assets

Changpeng Zhao, more popularly known as CZ in the cryptocurrency industry, confirmed that Binance is interested in the distressed assets of its former rival and now bankrupt crypto derivatives exchange FTX. Tron CEO Justin Sun also expressed his interest in FTX's assets and said his team is "open to any kind of deal."

CZ is one of the first crypto entrepreneurs to start the chain of events that led to the unraveling and later the filing for bankruptcy of FTX. When Binance sold all of its FTT, the native token of the FTX ecosystem, on November 6, FTT's price nosedived. Investors scrambled to sell their tokens in an attempt to salvage their investments.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

While investigations related to the implosion of FTX are ongoing, which include fraud and funds mismanagement, FTX assets and affiliates are in limbo. FTX's new CEO John Ray III said over the weekend that FTX Trading would launch a strategic review of its global assets after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

The CEO also confirmed that it is the company's priority to "explore sales, recapitalizations or other strategic transactions with respect to these subsidiaries, and others that we identify as our work continues" in the coming weeks.

CZ recently confirmed that Binance is interested in the assets of FTX. "We definitely want to look at those assets," the CEO told Bloomberg in a recent interview.

"They invested in a number of different projects, some of them are OK, some of them are bad, but I think there are a number of assets that may be salvageable. We'll look through that when they become available," CZ added.

Aside from Binance, Tron CEO Justin Sun is also interested in FTX's assets. "We are open to any kind of deal. I think all the options [are] on the table," the crypto entrepreneur told the Wall Street Journal.

"Right now we are evaluating assets one by one, but as far as I understand the process is going to be long since they are already in this kind of bankruptcy procedure," Sun said. He also mentioned that Huobi and Tron's executives are currently in talks with FTX in the Bahamas.

The tables have turned.

It may be recalled that Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX and its equally controversial hedge fund firm Alameda Research were on an acquisition and bail-out spree earlier this year. Bankman-Fried even earned the name White Knight of Crypto because of his acquisition streak earlier this year.

In the summer, crypto lender BlockFi received credit from FTX.US and Voyager Digital accepted a $1.4 billion bid from FTX to acquire its assets. Now, BlockFi is on the verge of going bankrupt itself while Voyager Digital is looking for a new buyer.