By Senad Karaahmetovic
Bitcoin (BTC) price is trading in the red Friday despite Binance's efforts to calm markets down after the spectacular collapse of the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said yesterday that it established the Industry Recovery Initiative (IRI) to support the embattled crypto industry after the FTX collapse.
Binance committed $1 billion to IRI "with an intent to ramp up that amount to USD 2 billion in the near future if the need arises," the exchange said in a blog post. The company added that it received around 150 applications from companies interested to support the IRI, including Jump Crypto, Polygon Ventures, Aptos Labs, Animoca Brands, GSR, Kronos, and Brooker Group.
"The mandate of this new effort is to support the most promising and highest quality companies and projects built by the best technologists and entrepreneurs that, through no fault of their own, are facing significant, short-term, financial difficulties. What makes this initiative unique is the collaborative approach to restoring confidence in Web3," it is further stated in a blog post.
Still, Bitcoin price is trading near 2-year lows after failing to stage a relief rally on the back of the IRI launch. On Monday, the BTC price hit $15,460 - the lowest level seen since November 2020.
Given that $18,000 offered major support to Bitcoin, this zone is now likely to act as resistance and cap any attempt to stage a recovery. On the downside, the $13,900 offers some degree of support to embattled bulls.