Is FTX’s Bankman-Fried Behind The Recent Wave Of Negative News Surrounding Binance?

Former CEO of the defunct crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has been rumored to be responsible for the wave of negative news that has overwhelmed crypto exchange Binance of late.

Binance FUD And SBF’s Involvement

The largest crypto exchange by market cap, Binance, has made the news a lot recently, and much of it has been negative as there are growing concerns that it may lead to Binance users seeking alternatives, further chopping off the firm’s market share. 

Recent revelations have shown that the disgraced FTX founder and ex-CEO SBF may be responsible for the fear, uncertainty, and doubts (FUD) surrounding Binance these past few days. Specifically, a crypto enthusiast pointed out in a tweet that the firm responsible for playing a huge role in propagating the FUD around the exchange is a media firm with ties to SBF.

JUST IN: ALL THE #BINANCE FUD STORIES IN THE LAST 24HRS ARE COMING FROM ‘SEMAFOR’ A MEDIA START UP THAT SAM BANKMAN FRIED INVESTED IN

IF SBF SPREADING BINANCE FUD??#CRYPTO #BITCOIN pic.twitter.com/CimC7UlCgH

— Crypto Macro (@cryptomacro14) August 3, 2023

The highlight of this FUD was when Semafor published a report that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) was considering leveling fraud charges against Binance but was adamant because of the damage it could cause customers. This news made its way to social media platforms and got massive engagements from members of the crypto Twitter community. 

BNB price volatility remains low | Source: BNBUSD on Tradingview.com

SBF’s Beef With CZ

There is no denying that SBF has taken digs at Binance’s CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao at different times. In a blog post released by SBF in January, he stated that CZ was the one who engineered his crypto exchange’s collapse. 

Part of the post read:

Then came CZ’s fateful tweet, following an extremely effective months-long PR campaign against FTX – and the crash.

The tweet in reference was when the Binance boss announced that his exchange was planning on selling all of its FTT (FTX’s token) holdings. 

That wasn’t the first time SBF came at CZ post-FTX’s bankruptcy. In reply to CZ’s tweets where he spoke about Binance leaving FTX as an investor long before their financial turmoils began, SBF stated that the CEO didn’t need to lie as he had “won.”

“You won, @cz_binance. There’s no need to lie, now, about the buyout. We initiated conversations around buying you out, and we decided to do it because it was important for our business. And while I was frustrated with your ‘negotiation’ tactics, I chose to still do it,” SBF said in his tweet.

Considering this, it is possible that the disgraced FTX boss might be looking for ways to get one over CZ and his exchange. There are fewer ways to do this than spread FUD, considering how it could affect users’ sentiments, who could, in turn, consider removing their assets from the exchange.

Featured image from Reuters, chart from Tradingview.com