Kevin O’Leary: Binance Deliberately Caused FTX Collapse

15 Dec 2022

Canadian entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary today slammed crypto exchange Binance—and claimed it caused the collapse of FTX on purpose, Decrypt reports.

Speaking at the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing, the celebrity businessman also said Binance is a “massive, unregulated monopoly now.”

O’Leary—who was heavily invested in FTX—told the hearing: “I have an opinion, not the records. One put the other out of business—intentionally.”

Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, played an early part in the collapse of mega exchange FTX last month. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced that he would be selling the exchanges holdings of FTX’s native token, a move that triggered a liquidity crisis. Days later, FTX filed for bankruptcy.

The exchange’s bankruptcy trashed the crypto market—including several companies with exposure to the behemoth.

O’Leary also argued for stronger regulation today, noting that FTX-owned derivatives trading platform LedgerX was the “only entity that didn’t go to zero” following the crash because it was regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.