Active addresses transacting with FTX’s FTT token have been close to zero throughout 2022. Before Binance announced a potential FTX acquisition, it appears the token has been relatively inactive on-chain.
Given that most activity on exchanges happens off-chain and FTT is the native token of FTX, it is likely that most users hold FTT tokens in custodial wallets on FTX rather than in cold storage. The lack of active addresses supports this thesis, as retail investors with assets on FTX will not be counted toward active addresses on the chain.
The token was trading at $38 in January and hit a high of $53 in March. It fell to around $30 by May and then traded within a range of $21 to $32 until Nov. 6, when rumors began to spread about a potential liquidity issue.
The rumors began over the weekend of Nov. 6-7 when Binance CEO CZ announced that the company would be liquidating its FTT tokens. New addresses interacting with the FTT token spiked after the new, although FTX owns 99.6% of the entire supply.
FTT is now trading at just $5.20 amid extreme volatility on a day when it hit a high of $20 and a low of $2.60.
Before October, 60% of the FTT supply was held in smart contracts, but this has fallen to roughly 5% as the market got spooked by the onslaught of revelations about FTX. However, FTT open interest and 24-hour volume spiked to the highest levels this year during the same period.
