Crisis-struck cryptocurrency platform FTX has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., and its chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned, it said Friday, the latest blow in a saga that has reverberated across the digital currency landscape.

The filing comes after the world's biggest cryptocurrency platform, Binance, agreed to buy its rival earlier this week but backed out, leading market players to consider possible regulator responses.

FTX Group announced in a statement Friday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, adding it has begun an "orderly process to review and monetize assets for the benefit of all global stakeholders."

Chapter 11 is a U.S. mechanism allowing a company to restructure its debts under court supervision while continuing to operate.

This week's financial chaos at FTX has seen major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, plunge.

Bankman-Fried issued a "sincere" apology Thursday, adding FTX would do "everything we can to raise liquidity."

The cash-strapped company added in its statement that it had appointed John J. Ray as chief executive with immediate effect.

"The immediate relief of Chapter 11 is appropriate to provide the FTX Group the opportunity to assess its situation," said Ray in the statement.

"Stakeholders should understand that events have been fast-moving and the new team is engaged only recently."

"Many employees of the FTX Group in various countries are expected to continue with the FTX Group and assist Mr. Ray and independent professionals in its operations during the Chapter 11 proceedings," the statement said.

Binance agreed to buy FTX.com on Tuesday – before scrapping the takeover just a day later.

Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao defended himself against accusations of any purposeful plot after the deal fell apart.

"FTX going down is not good for anyone in the industry. Do not view it as a win for us. User confidence is severely shaken," he tweeted.

The platform's collapse was a shock even for an already turbulent industry.

Bankman-Fried, who worked as a broker on Wall Street before moving to Hong Kong in 2017, had cultivated friends in Washington and basked in glowing tributes when he stepped in to rescue other ailing crypto companies earlier in the year.

The turmoil at FTX, at one point valued at $32 billion, is a spectacular reversal of fortune for the founder and one-time cryptocurrency wunderkind.

"This is another black eye for the industry," David Holt, a cryptocurrency expert at CFRA, said of FTX's troubles.

The fall from grace even stretched to the world of sports, where the Miami Heat announced its FTX Arena is set for a rename, and the Mercedes Formula One team said it had suspended a sponsorship deal with FTX. It removed the company's logo from its cars ahead of this weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The Heat tweeted Friday that it and Miami-Dade County were "immediately taking action to terminate our business relationships with FTX," including finding "a new naming rights partner for the arena."