Share this article
FTX Used Billions in Customer Funds to Buy Back Binance Stake
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a 2022 post the company had received over $2.1 billion in binance usd (BUSD) stablecoins and FTX’s FTT tokens.
Updated Oct 19, 2023, 9:12 a.m. Published Oct 19, 2023, 8:06 a.m.
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX used customer funds to buy back the entirety of the firm’s stake held with competitor exchange Binance, a court hearing on Wednesday revealed.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a 2022 post the company had received over $2.1 billion in binance usd (BUSD) stablecoins and FTX’s FTT tokens as part of the repurchase.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Peter Easton, an accounting professor at the University of Notre Dame, has been hired by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to trace the billions of dollars between Alameda and FTX as part of the ongoing Sam Bankman-Fried trial.
“Oh, yes,” Easton said when asked by the court whether FTX ever spent user deposits. The professor testified these user deposits were reinvested into businesses and real estate, used to make political contributions and donated to charity, as reported.
Read more: ‘Oh, Yes’: Accounting Prof Says Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Definitely Mishandled Customers' Money
These deposits were used to buy back Binance’s shares in FTX. “Over a billion dollars came from customer funds from FTX exchange,” Easton testified on Wednesday.
In 2019, Binance invested an undisclosed amount of money in FTX as part of a strategic partnership between the two firms. The then-infant FTX processed $500 million daily in trades, a far cry from the over $50 billion at its peak.
Relations between the two gradually soured over the years, even spilling over to social media.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
CFTC's acting chief Pham poised to go to crypto firm MoonPay once Mike Selig lands
The leader of the derivatives regulator is planning to join the crypto industry as the CFTC and other federal regulators work on policies to benefit the sector.
What to know:
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Caroline Pham confirmed again that she's heading to crypto firm MoonPay when the Senate confirms her replacement and he's sworn in.
- President Donald Trump's CFTC chair nominee Mike Selig was set for a Senate vote Wednesday evening, according to that chamber's schedule.
- Selig, currently an SEC official, would arrive at the CFTC just as several of Pham's crypto initiatives have gone live.
Top Stories
