HAYVN, the digital currency platform, has announced it is considering making a bid to acquire collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

FTX, once the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, entered a rapid death spiral collapse after a surge of customer withdrawals earlier in the month led chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried to admit that the company did not have sufficient assets in reserve to meet customer demand.

One billion in funds summarily disappeared, with FTX shortly after filing for bankruptcy.

Bankman-Fried, who was once dubbed the ‘King of Crypto’, also resigned from the company as investigations by authorities in the Bahamas and in the US began in earnest.

Sources now say that FTX will attempt to sell or reorganise much of its business after rival exchange Binance withdrew from an acquisition deal.

HAYVN has expressed interest in the FTX Pay portion of FTX’s business, suggesting it could work as a bolt-on to HAYVN’s own payments infrastructure.

“We are pleased to learn that some of the FTX business have solvent balance sheets, responsible management, and valuable franchises,” said Christopher Flinos, chief executive at HAYVN. “Our goal is to ensure that within two years, 75 per cent of the world’s e-commerce and point-of-sale transactions have a cryptocurrency payment option available for the customer. Acquiring FTX Pay will help solidify our position as the global leader in cryptocurrency payment solutions.”

FTX’s collapse led the Bank of England (BOE) to call for crypto regulation.

"While the crypto world, as was demonstrated during last year’s crypto winter and last week’s FTX implosion is not at present large enough or interconnected enough with mainstream finance to threaten the stability of the financial system, its links with mainstream finance have been developing rapidly," John Cunliffe, BOE deputy governor, told the audience at a Warwick Business School event.

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