Amid FTX Fiasco, Exchange's Legal, Compliance Staff Are Heading For Exits: Report

Most of the legal and compliance staff of cryptocurrency exchange FTX have resigned from the company as the embattled firm's acqusition by Binance hangs in uncertainty.  

The staff departures would probably make it more difficult to save the cryptocurrency exchange, for which Binance has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire, Semafor reported Wednesday. 

Benzinga reached out to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for comment on the reports of employee departures. 

Binance Deal On Shaky Ground: Earlier this morning, Coindesk reported that Binance is "extremely unlikely" to move forward with its proposed takeover of faltering rival FTX after less than a day of evaluating the business.

Binance's non-binding letter of intent for the acquisition, which was made public on Tuesday as FTX's financial crisis appeared to be spiraling out of control, includes a clause requiring due diligence.

Binance is strongly leaning against the deal after spending about half a day reviewing the loan agreements and internal data from FTX, the Coindesk report said. 

Reports Of SEC Investigation: U.S. banking officials are investigating whether FTX handled customer funds properly and its connections to other parts of Bankman- Fried's crypto companies, a Bloomberg report said Wednesday. 

The report said Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are both looking into the liquidity crisis at the trading platform.

The fallout from FTX's struggles sent the cryptocurrency market spiraling lower Wednesday, with Bitcoin BTC/USD down 16% and breaking the $17,000 mark for the first time since November 2020.
Other major cryptocurrencies are plunging: Ethereum BTC/USD is down 25%. Binance BTC/USD is down 23%, and Ripple XRP/USD, Cardano ADA/USD, and Solana SOL/USD are down 20%, 13%, and 45%, respectively.

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