FTX approaches crypto exchange Kraken for funds: Report

This illustration photo shows a smart phone screen displaying the logo of FTX, the crypto exchange platform, with a screen showing the FTX website in the background in Arlington, Virginia on February 10, 2022. Photographer: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

FTX has approached Kraken as potential rescue partner, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter, just hours after Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried said he had launched an urgent push to raise funds.

Bankman-Fried had earlier in the day said he was in talks with "a number of players" in the crypto sector, including Justin Sun who is the founder of crypto token Tron to rescue his cryptocurrency exchange.

FTX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that FTX tapped into billions of dollars worth of customer assets to fund risky bets by its sister crypto trading company Alameda.

Bankman-Fried had told an investor this week that Alameda owed FTX about $10 billion, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter said.