Bitcoin, Ethereum and most other cryptocurrencies fell on Tuesday 08-11-2022 following Binance's announcement of its intention to acquire FTX, heightening concerns about liquidity in the industry.
According to TradingView, the Total Market Cap - the global value of the entire crypto sector was down 15% on the past day, reaching $813 billion. Bitcoin lost 12%, Ethereum lost 17.5% and Dogecoin lost 25%.
The FTX token crashed 84% and Binance's BNB also reversed a sharp previous 17% gain and turned negative, falling 6%.
“To protect users, we have signed a non-binding Letter of Intent, planning to fully acquire FTX.com and help manage the liquidity crisis,” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted.
Zhao added that the deal is pending confirmation of his firm's ability to conduct due diligence on the FTX purchase and the exchange itself.
A liquidity crisis plagued the FTX exchange at the beginning of the week amid a sharp decline in FTX Token. A CoinDesk report last week suggested that FTX-owned Alameda Research's balance sheet is heavily dependent on FTT, raising concerns that the two parts of the Bankman-Fried empire depend on illiquid cryptocurrencies rather than cash or other liquid assets.
The liquidity problems of the crypto sector arose after the crash at the beginning of the year, which erased $340 billion of market capitalization and lowered ETH from $3,900 to $2,200, followed by the collapse of the “stable” Terra UST coin, forming a steady series of crashes in the industry, following behind the increase in interest rates of the Federal Reserve against the backdrop of its fight against "indomitable inflation".
The technical picture in ETH futures points to potentially increased risks of further erosion and disruption of the crypto market as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate cycle nears its climax and logical conclusion before the end of 2022.
The left scale shows market expectations for a Fed rate by the end of Q1'23. That is well above 10-year US Government Treasuries yield.