Binance offers to buy FTX's non-U.S. operations to fix 'liquidity crunch'

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency firm, has reached a deal with Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX to buy the crypto exchange for an undisclosed amount.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted Tuesday morning that "there is a significant liquidity crunch" at FTX and that after FTX asked for Binance's help, they "signed a non-binding LOI, intending to fully acquire http://FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch."

Zhao added that Binance will be conducting a full diligence in the coming days.

Sam Bankman-Fried confirmed the agreement in a tweet this morning.

Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, was one of FTX's earliest investors. In a tweet, Bankman-Fried said that Binance would be FTX.com's "first, and last" investor.

The acquisition impacts only the non-US businesses, FTX.com. FTX.us will remain independent of Binance. The deal, according to Tweets from both Zhao and Bankman-Fried, rests on a non-binding letter of intent, pending full due diligence.

FTT, the token native to FTX, was sharply higher on the news. It is up more than 26% in the last 40 minutes. This comes after a major sell-off that began Monday evening amid concerns surrounding the solvency of both FTX and its sister trading firm, Alameda Research.

This is breaking news. More to follow.

— CNBC's Kate Rooney contributed to this report.