Cryptocurrencies plunge as Binance scraps deal for rival FTX
Cryptocurrency prices plunged for a second-straight day Wednesday after crypto exchange Binance announced it was pulling out of its deal to purchase its failing rival FTX Trading NEW YORK -- Cryptocurrency prices plunged for a second-straight day Wednesday after crypto exchange Binance announced it was pulling out of its deal to purchase its failing rival FTX Trading. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were broadly lower on rumors and news reports that the Binance-FTX deal was in trouble. The CEOs of the two exchanges — Sam Bankman-Freid of FTX and Changpeng Zhao of Binance — had publicly agreed to a merger Tuesday, pending the ability for Binance to perform due diligence of FTX's balance sheet. That due diligence apparently led to significant concerns that convinced it to pull out of the deal, Binance said in a statement Wednesday. “In the beginning, our hope was to be able to support FTX's customers to provide liquidity, but the issues are beyond our control or ability to h...