How the mighty have fallen! FTX founder interview revealed the current financial troubles of Mr. Bankman-Fried, and also detailed the current situation about the aftermath of the crash.
The former “King of Crypto,” who appeared in public for the first time since the collapse, told The New York Times that he had a “bad month” and had practically no money left. FTX, which had previously been valued at $32 billion (£26.5 billion), collapsed last month. Many investors are still unable to get their money out of the now-defunct worldwide exchange.
FTX founder interview revealed that he was in debt
Additionally, Mr. Bankman-Fried said that despite legal counsel telling him not to talk publicly, he disregarded it to do the FTX founder interview. He said he had “close to nothing” and denied taking any personal funds out of FTX. Speaking from The Bahamas, he claimed to have one credit card remaining with a debt of almost $100,000.
He claimed in the interview that he had not intended to deceive investors, adding, “I didn’t ever try to commit fraud.” However, when repeatedly questioned about the specifics of money transfers between FTX and other businesses, such as the trading company he controlled, Alameda Research, he occasionally came off as evasive.
At the FTX founder interview, he also said that the business has engaged in “greenwashing,” in which businesses undertake environmental initiatives in order to get notoriety. Mr. Bankman-Fried, whose net worth was reported to be more than $15 billion as recently as late October, was once compared to a younger counterpart of the famous US investor Warren Buffet. However, he claims that he drastically miscalculated the sum of money required to pay for FTX clients’ withdrawals, which resulted in a rush on the exchange.
Numerous crypto businesses have failed as a result of the global economic slowdown and worries about the long-term viability of cryptocurrency. Soon after, FTX filed for bankruptcy. On November 11, Mr. Bankman-Fried announced his resignation as CEO. A court document from earlier this month states that FTX presently owes its 50 top creditors close to $3.1 billion.
As a prominent political donor in Washington, DC, Mr. Bankman-Fried was renowned for allegedly advocating greater crypto regulation and pandemic prevention. However, Mr. Bankman-Fried acknowledged that much of his work in Washington, DC, had been PR “masquerading as do-gooderism” in his interview.
For the time being, Mr. Bankman-Fried claimed he was not worried about any legal or criminal responsibility. He started and stopped numerous times before finally saying, “There’s a time and a place for me to think about myself and my own future. I don’t think this is it.”
Mr. Bankman-Fried said that he had been as truthful as he knew how to be when questioned if he had been sincere in his comments. “I don’t know of times when I lied,” he said. He asserted that he thought FTX US was solvent and could in fact repay American investors, albeit he did not offer any proof to back this up.
The crypto world has been shaken by the developments surrounding the crash and the FTX founder interview did little to ease anyone’s mind. If you want to read more on the subject, we suggest that you check out BlockFi pauses withdrawals in the midst of FTX crisis, or after FTX collapse, Binance under investigation.
