…
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of disgraced cryptocurrency exchange FTX, admitted he made mistakes as the leader of the company.
He said it was not his intention, nor was he trying to cheat anyone out of their money.
The former FTX CEO recently appeared on video at the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York.
“There are things I would do anything to do over again,” said SBF.
“I was shocked by what happened this month.”
Collapse
In early November, Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO of FTX after filing for bankruptcy with the company and dozens of its subsidiaries.
Customers worldwide are rushing to retrieve the billions of funds they deposited on the platform.
SBF’s multi-billion dollar private fortune also disappeared almost overnight.
Additionally, crypto companies with financial exposure to FTX are beginning to buckle.
One of the questions surrounding SBF is whether the platform stole money from clients while lending money to its hedge fund Alameda.
“I didn’t knowingly commingle funds,” SBF said.
“I was frankly surprised by how big Alameda’s position was.”
Failure
The cryptocurrency exchange platform had a run on the banks early last month.
However, it collapsed quickly during a liquidity crunch.
“Look, I screwed up,” admitted SBF. “I was CEO of FTX… I had a responsibility.”
Sam Bankman-Fried admitted that FTX lacked corporate controls and risk management in the companies he oversaw.
In filing for bankruptcy, the new CEO of FTX described the case as a “complete failure.”
“There was no other person who was chiefly in charge of positional risk of customers on FTX,” said Bankman-Fried.
“And that feels pretty embarrassing in retrospect.”
Read also: Sam Bankman-Fried also donated to Republicans
The companies
It’s unclear how much FTX customers will recoup while the company restructures.
Sam Bankman-Fried hinted that US and Japanese customers could be made whole, but he didn’t suggest how.
In addition, his previous progress statements will be reviewed following his lack of oversight.
As the liquidity crunch began, SBF tweeted that its FTX business was doing well and said it had enough to satisfy client interest.
However, he deleted the tweet within a day and attempted to orchestrate a bailout plan that fell apart.
SBF’s admission that he had no supervision raised questions about his knowledge.
Investigations
Federal prosecutors are investigating FTX for Southern New York County following the company’s collapse.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Bahamian authorities are also investigating the company due to FTX operating out of the Bahamas.
Financial regulators are working with the company’s new management.
The team is led by restructuring specialists who guide FTX through bankruptcy.
Read also: The Federal Reserve settles on smaller rate hikes
SBF
Sam Bankman-Fried’s appearance at the DealBook summit came weeks after publicly apologizing.
Unfortunately, his apologies surprised the press.
During his Wednesday interview, SBF was questioned whether his lawyers urged him to speak out.
“They’re very much not,” he replied.
“And I mean, you know the classic advice, right? ‘Don’t say anything, you know, recede into a hole.'”
“I have a duty to explain what happened,” added SBF.
“I don’t see what good is accomplished by me just sitting locked in a room pretending the outside world doesn’t exist.”
Sam Bankman-Fried was also asked about his fortune, initially estimated at $26 billion at his peak.
However, according to the SBF, he had given everything to FTX and believes he only has $100,000 left in his bank account.
Reference:
