“I never know Try to kid anyone, I’m appalled by what happened this month,” Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder and former CEO of the fallen FTX, told The New York Times in an interview at the annual Dell Book meeting. Andrew Ross Sorkin.
One of the biggest questions surrounding this controversy is the misappropriation of funds between Alameda and FTX. For some context, Alameda began struggling to repay creditors when crypto prices began to fall. As a result, FTX used customer funds to satisfy creditors; Both Alameda’s lack of asset activity and FTX customers starting a crypto exchange equivalent to a run on the bank triggered the risk segment.
When pressed by Sorkin, SBF said it “does not knowingly commingle funds” between Alameda and FTX. “In terms of the scope of the position, not our intentions, but basically, I think it’s more connected than I’d like to be,” he said.
“A lot of what we did and focused on was a distraction from an incredibly important area where we failed completely: that was disaster,” SBF said. “This was a risk management, risk to client position and, frankly, conflict of interest.”
The entrepreneur said he did not assign anyone to oversee the Alameda and FTX relationship. He explained that it was his duty to think more about the financial entanglement – although it was an excuse, ironically, when he looked closely at the relationship, he presented fears that it could be at risk due to the conflict of ownership shares in both parties.
Some see the collapse of FTX, and SBF’s missteps along with its co-conspiracy group, as a critical moment that will affect overall confidence in the cryptocurrency space – a world facing winter as Bitcoin and Ethereum prices wobble.
SBF, for his part, has remained vocal, and his decision to do the NYT interview in the first place surprised many. During the interview, SBF, while drinking (and spilling at least one) La Croix in the Bahamas, said several times that he had no idea how some business went wrong, from the relationship to the eventual bankruptcy. When asked what SBF’s lawyers advised him to do, Sorkin said, “Not a lot” to support his participation in the interview.
“The usual advice is don’t say anything, go back to the pit,” said SBF when asked about his lawyer’s view if he had to interview him now. “I can’t see what I’m doing when I sit locked in a room pretending the outside world doesn’t exist.”
The SBF’s fall from grace is being widely reported, while many wait to see if he will be charged with the possible crimes in question. The entrepreneur stepped down from the role earlier this month, and was replaced by Enron spin-down veteran John J. Ray III. On the record, Ray said in his career he had “never seen such a complete breakdown of corporate control and such a complete absence of reliable financial information as occurred here.”
In an interview with a Vox reporter, the entrepreneur talked about the leaked DMS, citing his biggest regret as filing for bankruptcy. In the text message exchange, he made slurred comments, going so far as to refer to them as “fuk controllers.”
“It’s not meant to be a public interview, I foolishly forgot it was a long-time friend of mine who was also a reporter,” he said. “I thought I was speaking personally.”
In that Vox interview, he added, regulators “make everything worse” and never protect consumers. During FTX’s prime, SBF was a frequent visitor to Capitol Hill, where he advised US lawmakers on cryptocurrency regulations. In an interview with Sorkin, SBF said he spent “probably thousands of hours in DC” meeting with supervisors.
On a personal note, however, SBF said he spoke to his parents, both of whom are lawyers, about FTX. There are allegations that his parents were given a vacation home in the Bahamas using FTX money; “It wasn’t meant to be their long-term property, it was always meant to be the property of the company … and I think that’s where it ended up … I think they might have been there.”
SBF said he was not focusing on criminal liability, although he had “time and space” to think about himself and his future. “I’ve had a bad month… but that’s not what happens here… what matters is all the stakeholders in FTX.”
When asked directly whether he stayed in the Bahamas for fear of possible interference if he returned to the United States, Banman-Fried said he had no intention of staying there because of that fear. He said instead, “I can, to [his] Knowledge” return to America at will.
At the end of the interview, SBF said he had very little money left; Including only one valid credit card. He believes he has about $100,000 left in his bank account.
“I can’t make any promises about anything, but I thought there might be a way to go here that would bring more value to customers than if you just sold everything for scrap,” he said. . “It’s not really in my hands, but I think it’s worth looking into that, because I think their customers are a lot more complete, maybe even completely complete.” concerted effort”.
As Sorkin mentioned at the beginning of the interview, when he read letters from readers who had already made millions in the wake of FTX’s failure, the company’s implosion wiped out some people’s entire life savings. It is still unclear whether those people will look at their money again.
“There have been examples of this in the history of crypto,” SBF said.
In the year He cited the hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016 where 94,000 bitcoins were stolen. Earlier this year, the DOJ seized the stolen cryptocurrency, and Bitfinex began working with US authorities to help customers get their money back.
Last month, FTX fell from the third largest crypto exchange to 233, according to CoinMarketCap data. FTX US episode is 243rd. The third largest crypto exchange behind Coinbase and Binance is now Kraken – which itself cut 1,100 jobs earlier today.
Darrell Etherington Reported to this department.
