FTX’s FTT token rallies 28% — Binance effect or FTX 2.0 reopening?

The surge suggests significant institutional attention despite the token’s historical association with FTX’s financial challenges.

Amid market uncertainties around Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s departure as Binance CEO, defunct crypto exchange FTX’s native FTX Token (FTT) witnessed a brief bull run. FTT has surged in value over the past 48 hours, trading at $4.63 at the time of writing, a 28% increase from $3.56.

FTT is experiencing another surge following Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement with the United States Department of Justice, according to on-chain analysis firm Santiment, which revealed the 10 largest wallets accumulating $12.8 million of tokens in 19 days.

According to Santiment, FTT has recorded 337% growth on the monthly chart, with a significant portion of these gains occurring in the last 10 days, reflecting a 255% increase in FTT’s market value compared to Bitcoin (BTC).

Those who took a chance on $FTT continue to be rewarded, with a second rally for #FTX‘s native token coming after yesterday’s #Binance news. Its price appears to have been boosted by the 10 largest wallets accumulating $12.8M worth of coins in 19 days. https://t.co/V3QNq91asF pic.twitter.com/DL5pkVfW96

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) November 23, 2023

FTX’s recent approach of liquidating assets and transferring substantial funds across different exchanges has triggered heightened activity in the cryptocurrency market. From Nov. 21–22, FTX and its affiliate, Alameda Research, executed transfers of assets totaling $474 million, which could have a depreciating effect on the FTT price.

This move is part of a broader effort to manage the defunct exchange’s financial obligations and potentially pave the way for a new phase known as FTX 2.0. The FTX team plans to restart the exchange by the second quarter of 2024.

Despite the FTT token rallying after the Binance and CZ news, Binance’s BNB (BNB) token declined, experiencing a 13% drop to $235. Data from DefiLlama showed that Binance’s 24-hour outflows topped $1 billion at 3:30 pm, Hong Kong time on Nov. 22. The exchange’s net outflows over seven days amounted to $703.1 million.

In his introductory post on X (formerly Twitter) as Binance’s new CEO, Teng stated that “the foundation on which Binance stands today is stronger than ever.” Teng said he would initially focus on three aspects of the business: reinstating investor confidence, collaboration with regulators and driving Web3 adoption.

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