The background of the conflict between CZ/Binance and SBF/FTX, which has been brewing since 2019.

CZ founded Binance in 2017. The exchange quickly became the largest, many people tried to take the crown from her, but no one succeeded. In May 2019, a new player appeared on the field — actually, SBF with FTX. CZ has made a strategic decision to invest in FTX. It was also announced that FTX will be working on institutional products for the Binance ecosystem. However, FTX grew rapidly on bulran, CZ felt threatened, and in 2021 Binance got rid of its stake in FTX.

🇨🇳 CZ's concern has another reason. SBF is trying to maximize the potential of FTX with the help of policy and regulators. In the fight against Binance, he has a clear angle: the origin of CZ and rumors of Chinese participation in Binance. As tensions between the US and China grow, SBF has an opportunity to attack Binance.

CZ struck the first blow back after SBF published its proposals for regulating cryptocurrencies. They caused criticism in the crypto industry, many claimed that SBF was trying to kill DeFi. So SBF became the "enemy of cryptocurrencies".

The second case, which we are watching live, began with an article by CoinDesk, which stated that most of the assets on the balance sheet of Alameda ($ 14.6 billion) are represented by the FTT token, which the company prints itself. This gave CZ the angle necessary for the attack (we will not assess here how real the financial risks of FTT were).

As part of the exit from FTX in 2021, Binance received FTT and BUSD in the amount of $2.1 billion. Over the weekend, CZ posted a tweet in which he announced Binance's intention to dump its entire FTT. This helped fuel the FUD narratives around FTX insolvency. In addition, even the fact of such a statement had a significant impact on the FTT price.

You know the rest of the story: Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison offered CZ to buy FTT via OTC for $22, and SBF urged everyone to "make love (and blockchain), not war." However, CZ continued to fan the FUD's flame and compared FTT to LUNA. Given the state of the crypto industry in recent months and the cautious mood of market participants, this provoked a massive outflow of funds from FTX. The irony is that even if FTX does not go bankrupt, this attack will damage it, and the bank-run may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Binance will benefit from this, first of all.

 What does this mean for the participants of the crypto industry? The obvious risk is that the conflict will lead to the bankruptcy of FTX. Given the size of the latter, it would be almost a disaster for the crypto industry. However, even if FTX survives this battle, it is obvious that war has been declared. It is difficult to predict what its collateral damage will be. "Chaos is a ladder," and both sides know it.

🪙 Whether to store funds on FTX, Binance or other centralized exchanges is up to you. But here it is worth (once again this year) remembering the principle "not your keys— not your money", as well as the fact that such battles of titans ultimately affect ordinary users