: Federal authorities investigating FTX over handling of customer funds: Bloomberg
Federal authorities are investigating FTX over its handling of customer funds, according to a Bloomberg News report published Wednesday. The investigation involves both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and is focused on the liquidity issues that prompted a planned sale to rival Binance, which was announced on Tuesday, according to the report. The investigation began months ago, and investigators initially focused on the firm’s lending practices, according to two sources that Bloomberg didn’t identify. Meanwhile, CoinDesk reports that Binance is “highly unlikely” to actually go through with its planned acquisition after its initial review of the firm’s financials. Binance had said that the deal was contingent on it completing due diligence. Bloomberg reported that the SEC, CFTC, Binance and FTX either didn’t respond to a request for comment, or opted not to comment. CoinDesk reported that neither Binance nor FTX wanted to comment about their story about Binance potentially backing away from the deal. Cryptocurrency prices were slumping on Wednesday, with bitcoin falling below $17,100 per coin, while Ethereum is trading below $1,200 per coin. Both were the weakest levels of the year.
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