Sam Bankman-Fried Bows to Rescue From Binance as FTX Buckles

A day before accepting the deal from Binance, Bankman-Fried said on Twitter that assets on FTX were “fine,” but by Tuesday, he had changed his messaging. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Changpeng “CZ” Zhao became the undisputed king of the crypto world on Tuesday, shocking the industry with a move to take over FTX.com, the troubled firm led by his chief rival and onetime disciple, Sam Bankman-Fried.

The letter of acquisition intent by Zhao’s Binance Holdings Ltd. came after a bitter feud between the two men spilled into the open, with Zhao actively undermining confidence in FTX’s finances and helping spark an exodus of users from the three-year-old FTX.com exchange. A day before accepting the deal from Binance, Bankman-Fried said on Twitter that assets on FTX were “fine.” By Tuesday, he had changed his messaging.