According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, El Salvador’s president, who previously admitted to buying Bitcoin while wearing just his underwear, today reassured citizens that the nation’s cryptocurrency holdings were secure and not on the failing exchange FTX.
The CEO of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world said in a tweet on Thursday that he had spoken with President Nayib Bukele, who disputed that the nation had used FTX to hold its Bitcoin.
The Salvadoran government may have exposure to FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that launched a massive collapse this week and took down the whole crypto market with it.
Chanpeng Zhao later tweeted: “Man, the amount of misinformation is insane. President Nayib said we don’t have any Bitcoin in FTX.”
A billionaire tech investor named Mike Novogratz later expressed regret for believing “fake news,” adding that he was a “huge fan” of what President Bukele was doing in El Salvador.
A liquidity shortage caused by FTX, a tremendously well-liked cryptocurrency exchange, caused it to start collapsing this week.
The exchange was subsequently offered for sale by Binance, who backed out of the agreement the next day.
FTX is now attempting to close an $8 billion gap in order to salvage the business. El Salvador legalized Bitcoin as legal means of payment in the Central American nation last year, an experiment that has drawn criticism from a number of American organizations.
The head of the country has frequently declared buying Bitcoin, but it is unclear how many coins the government actually owns and where they are stored.