-Crypto exchange Binance on Wednesday walked away from its proposed bailout of the troubled rival FTX

-Binance was prepared to acquire the non-US assets of FTX after the exchange faced a 'liquidity crunch' 

-US financial regulators are reportedly investigating whether FTX properly handled customer funds 

-Cryptocurrencies have plunged in the past 24 hours amid market panic over near-collapse of crypto giant

-Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, was down than 17% on the day, touching a two-year low of $16,862.88

Struggling cryptocurrency exchange FTX faces a fresh crisis after its biggest rival Binance said it would abandon a proposed bailout in a saga rocking the wider crypto market.

'Our hope was to be able to support FTX's customers to provide liquidity, but the issues are beyond our control or ability to help,' Binance told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, confirming it was pulling out of the deal.