In December 2019, Binance announced a strategic partnership with FTX, allegedly acquired 20% in FTX, and took a long-term position in the FTX token, FTT. The initial investment allegedly was in the range of "tens of millions" at a valuation of $1.2 billion. In July 2022 Binance exited and received $2.1 billion. A huge profit for Binance. The break was reportedly over regulatory issues. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) accused Changpeng Zhao (CZ) of causing him problems with regulators.
The U.S. SEC recently filed charges against eight social media influencers in a $100 million securities fraud scheme. They used Twitter to build followers and direct them to their podcasts or Discord, which they used as a virtual boiler room to pump securities. They are seasoned stock manipulators. Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram are full of crypto influencers who recently also massively promoted the FTX scam. When will action be taken against them?
French auditing firm Mazars Group, that did the controversial Proof of Reserve (POR) "audits" of crypto giants Binance and Crypto.com, has paused work for all crypto clients globally. However, the published POR audits have raised more questions than they gave answers to and were met with massive criticism on Twitter. Probably, as a result, Mazars has withdrawn from further crypto engagements. The crypto environment is currently extremely toxic.