Binance will not go ahead with the proposed deal to acquire FTX unless the US-based exchange partner FTX.US is part of the deal, according to a source with knowledge of the matter and text conversations reviewed by Blockworks.
The report says the original price of the deal was $1, it reports. It also says that Binance's legal advisors are worried the deal could be blocked due to US investigations.
The report cites another source saying that US regulators will not allow a joint sale with the US entity.
What I'm worried about is whether there was a fraudulent transfer of assets to the US operation from the global one. If so, assets from the US part of the business could be dragged into a bankruptcy .
In any case, this opens up at least the possibility that Binance could actually close the deal and make customers whole, though I still assume that's a low-probability outcome.
The crypto market appears to be taking this as another sign that the deal will falter as bitcoin just hit a new low at $16.300, off 12% on the day. FTX Token is down to $2.86.