FTX’s token plunges 80% on liquidity concerns, wiping out over $2 billion in value
FTT, the token native to crypto exchange FTX, lost most of its value after rival Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency firm, announced plans to acquire the company.
The coin traded at around $22 on Monday and sank below $5 Tuesday afternoon in New York. The selloff wiped out more than $2 billion in value in the space of 24 hours.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, wrote in a tweet to his more than 7 million followers that he expects FTT to be “highly volatile in the coming days as things develop.”
Cryptocurrencies as a class sank on Tuesday, with bitcoin and ethereum both plunging more than 10%. Shares of crypto exchange Coinbase also experienced a double-digit percentage drop, while Robinhood, which traders use to buy and sell crypto, fell by about 19%.
“It’s probably the most dramatic deal I’ve ever seen in the history of the crypto industry,” said Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, which focuses on blockchain investments. “It consolidates basically the two largest offshore exchanges into one entity, an absolute coup for CZ and Binance — and really a disaster for FTX.”
The agreement between the two companies is non-binding and follows what FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried called “liquidity crunches” at his firm, which was valued at $32 billion in a financing round earlier this year.
The acquisition impacts only the non-U.S. businesses for FTX. The U.S. division will remain independent of Binance. However, according to a 2021 audit, the U.S. part of FTX accounted for just 5% of total revenue. FTX is based in the Bahamas, where Bankman-Fried resides.
Like many crypto companies, FTX created its own token called FTT, which could be purchased like bitcoin though it wasn’t as widely available. Owners of FTT were promised lower trading costs and the ability to earn interest and rewards like waived blockchain fees. While investors can profit when FTT and other coins increase in value, they’re largely unregulated and are particularly susceptible to market downturns.
In 2019, Binance announced a strategic investment in FTX and said that as part of the deal it had taken “a long-term position in the FTX Token (FTT) to help enable sustainable growth of the FTX ecosystem.”
Because of Binance’s central position in crypto and its large ownership of FTT, the company had particular sway over FTX and the market’s view on the company. Investor confidence in FTX was rocked over the weekend when Zhao tweeted that Binance would sell its holdings of FTT.
Zhao said Binance had about $2.1 billion worth of FTT and BUSD, its own stablecoin.
“Due to recent revelations that have came to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books,” he said.
FTT, which peaked at around $78 in September 2021, was trading at close to $25 the day before Zhao’s tweets. It plunged below $16 on Monday and then fell off a cliff after the deal got announced Tuesday. According to CoinMarketCap, the value of FTT’s circulating supply is about $735 million, down from $2.9 billion on Monday.
Bankman-Fried said that in the 72 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, there had been roughly $6 billion of net withdrawals from FTX, according to Reuters. On an average day, net inflows are in the tens of millions of dollars.
“The fact that Sam was willing to do this deal suggests that FTX was deeply impaired in terms of the run on the bank that began in the last 48 hours,” said Carter. “We don’t know exactly what the issue was, whether they were lending out or gambling with user deposits.”
FTX did not respond to CNBC’s multiple requests for comment.
Earlier on Tuesday, FTX had halted withdrawals from its platform, after spooked investors attempted to pull their funds — in a move that resembled the collapse of other crypto firms this year, including Celsius, Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital.
News on FTT sparked concern about Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s trading firm and sister company to FTX. A report last week on the state of Alameda’s finances showed a large portion of its balance sheet is concentrated in FTT and its various activities leveraged the token as collateral. Alameda has disputed that claim, saying FTT represents only part of its total balance sheet.
“If the price of FTT goes way down, then Alameda could face margin calls and all kinds of pressure,” said Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at digital asset firm Arca. “If FTX is the lender to Alameda then everyone’s going to be in trouble.”
— CNBC’s Kate Rooney and Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.
Wagons don’t get a lot of love Stateside, with American buyers choosing SUVs over – well, pretty much every other type of vehicle imaginable. That’s our loss, as the latest plug in hybrid versions of the Volkswagen Passat are here to prove.
The latest Passat Variant eHybrid (or, in some markets, Vario, which is what the Europeans like to call wagons) is different from the version we get in the US. Unlike the domestic version which is based on a low-cost platform specific to the US and China, the Euro-market version is built on the MQB platform that underpins VW’s flagship Arteon four-door coupe and both VW‘s and Audi’s entry-luxe SUVs.
That might seem weird, since VW has sold more than 34 million units sold worldwide and the Passat is the second top-selling Volkswagen of all time (behind the Golf and ahead of the Beetle). It’s understandable, then, that the European execs are pretty proud of their Passat.
The latest evolutionary stage of the modular transverse matrix (MQB evo)forms the highly innovative technical basis of the ninth Passat generation. Thanks to the significant economies of scale of the MQB evo, Volkswagen has again democratised numerous high-tech developments and made them available for hundreds of thousands of drivers. The two completely newly developed plug-in hybrid drives (eHybrid) are a perfect example of this. In combination with a new battery, they make all-electric ranges of around 100 km possible. This distance turns the new Passat Variant into an electric vehicle for everyday life – this is additionally ensured by short charging times as the battery can now be charged at AC charge points with 11 kW instead of the previous 3.6 kW. The Passat Variant eHybrid can even be charged with up to 50 kW at DC fast charging stations. In addition, the combination of electric drive motor and new economical turbocharged petrol engine provides overall ranges of around 1,000 km.
KAI GRÜNITZ
Member of the Brand Board of Management, VW
In case the jealous American wago-philes reading this aren’t jealous enough, Volkswagen has announced new Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions that add nearly £5k of options for the new model year effectively for free.
“Match is better equipped than the outgoing Life, with additional features including metallic paint, VW’s IQ.Light LED matrix headlights, tinted rear windows and an ‘assistance pack’ which adds area view and emergency assist,” reports Alastair Crooks, from the UK car site AutoExpress. “The new Black Edition comes with metallic paint, 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, tinted rear windows (darker than the Match’s), heated front and rear seats, a head-up display, a 15-inch central touchscreen and the same assistance pack as the Match.”
The entry-level Match replaces the previous Life trim, but costs the same £45,555 (about $60,500), while the Black Edition costs the same as the outgoing R-Line, from £48,900 (about $64,950). The order books open 14 August.
You can take a look at some of the VW press photos of the European Passat wagon Variant, below, then let us know if you’d rather have this for $60K or the discount American version in the comments.
VW Passat Variant gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: VW, via AutoExpress.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Wirtgen Vögele recently revealed the battery-powered MINI 500e and the MINI 502e electric pavers. With an electrically heated screed, a range of paving widths, and zero-emission operations, they’re paving a greener, cleaner path.
Co-developed by Wirtgen Vögele and Italian road equipment manufacturer C. M. S.r.l., the new electric pavers will enable contractors to bid on construction projects that are subject to even the strictest noise and emission limits – but the company is quick to point out that they’re capable enough to serve on conventional job sites.
“These pavers excel on small-scale construction projects and jobs covering a small area – the type of work for which paving crews would not previously have been able to use machines,” reads the official Wirtgen Vögele copy. “Thanks to their elimination of manual labor, among other benefits, the new MINI pavers improve the efficiency and quality of asphalt paving, particularly in the construction of sidewalks and drains, as well as in tight downtown locations.”
The new Wirtgen MINI 502e (the one with wheels) and the MINI 500e (the one with crawler tracks) offer pave widths from 0.25 to 1.8 m, feature a battery-electric drive outputting 22.8 kW (30 hp), and your choice of either a 15 kWh or 22 kWh 48V li-ion battery – good enough battery capacity for up to 16 hours of continuing paving. Both versions can be fully charged on a conventional 110/120 “L1” power socket in about eight hours.
Electrek’s Take
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the federal EV incentives are or even what the guys on your crew want to operate. What matters is that construction noise upsets Mrs. Clancik’s terrier, and she will force the town council to keep the noise down all by herself.
If your construction company wants to bid on any municipal work, that means you’re gonna have to stay quiet. Maybe even keep the smells to a minimum, too. Buying electric equipment means you can do both.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Wirtgen, via Construction Equipment International.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Car brands like Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla have built up solid reputations for safety, but their ultra-safe vehicles often come with a premium price tag. The good news for car buyers looking for a deal, but still prize safety, is that there’s an all-electric Hyundai for under $40K that scores top marks on the IIHS’ toughest new safety tests.
SKIP THE STORY: take me to the deals.
Last Februray, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) established new benchmark criteria that included stricter side-impact and moderate overlap crash safety standards, improved safety for back seat passengers, and a stronger emphasis on pedestrian detection in low light.
“We followed the tougher requirements we introduced last year with another major update to the award criteria,” explains IIHS President David Harkey. “(The 2024) winners are true standouts, offering the highest level of protection for both vehicle occupants and other vulnerable road users.”
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is making it harder to earn its Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards from 2024, challenging manufacturers to offer better protection for back seat passengers and improve their pedestrian crash avoidance systems.
We’ve covered a few of the standout performers already over the past year-plus since the new safety standards were awarded, including the Rivian R1T (the only electric pickup to earn the coveted Top Safety Pick+ award), Audi Q6 e-tron, and the Tesla Model Y … but what we haven’t written about was the fact that the Hyundai IONIQ 6 was the only electric sedan to get a Top Safety Pick+, as well.
Why it matters, now
With the average transaction price of a new car at $48,907 and the looming demise of the $7,500 Federal tax credit accelerating demand for EVs (even for those that may not qualify), new EV buyers looking for a dependable commuter with long-range chops, ultra-fast charging capabilities, and the latest infotainment tech for under $40,000 have precious few options. And, if that Top Safety Pick+ rating is a must have? They only have one.
The good news is that it’s an excellent option. The 2024 version was named Car and Driver‘s 2023 EV of the Year, and led our own Scooter Doll to ask, “is any other automaker delivering more value in high-tech EVs right now?” and Nigel Evans over at CarBuzz to write, “Comparing the Ioniq 6 to its rivals is also an interesting exercise. For example, the Tesla Model 3 RWD now costs more than $40,000, with questionable interior design and layout and no Top Safety Pick+ from the IIHS. You can’t get the Chevrolet Bolt or Bolt EUV anymore in the budget EV sector, but they also lacked fast-charging capability.”
With up to 342 miles of range and a starting MSRP of $37,850 with all trims eligible for $7,500 in Retail Bonus Cash through Labor Day plus dealer discounts (if you can get them) bringing the price down even further, there’s a nonzero chance car buyers will be able to score a 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 6 for a sub-30K transaction price. Other featured deals include 0% interest financing for up to 48 months on any 2025 IONIQ 5 models in dealer inventory for well-qualified buyers, while lease buyers able to get a new SE model for $199/mo. with $3,999 down.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Hyundai, IIHS; via CarBuzz.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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