Sam Bankman-Fried, the former Chief Executive Officer of FTX, reveals what truly happened in the days leading up to the company declaring bankruptcy. Also, he gives reasons why the exchange only permitted withdrawals for Bahamian users.
Bankman-Fried argues in a phone chat with cryptocurrency blogger Tiffany Fong on Nov.16 that he decided to allow withdrawals to Bahamians. Neither he nor the exchange wanted to be in a nation “with a lot of unhappy people in it.”
Why SBF allowed withdrawals
“My reasons were essential for the company’s future. No one wants to be in a nation that has a lot of angry people. More so, you don’t want your company to be incorporated in a country with a lot of angry people either,” Sam Bankman-Fried says.
Before deciding to proceed with enabling withdrawals, SBF alleges he notified Bahamian securities officials. He gave a “one-day heads up” that FTX would do it. However, the regulators didn’t respond to these claims prior to the withdrawals.
So basically, Bankman’s main reason for this move was not to get Bahamians pissed. After all, his company’s pathway involved them.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s response
Due to liquidity problems, the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange temporarily stopped all withdrawals on November 8.
The exchange said on Nov. 10 that it has started to make it easier for Bahamians to withdraw their money. Only one day before it filed for bankruptcy. At the time, it argued that it complied with the requirements of the country’s regulators. The allowance led to the removal of millions of dollars worth of funds from the exchange.
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB), however, slowed the activities on Nov. 12. It denied having either directed or approved FTX to give Bahamian clients’ withdrawals priority.
Additionally, they cautioned that any withdrawal of money might be subject to reclamation as part of the firm’s liquidation process.
Cointelegraph contacted the SCB and inquired if they had received any information from FTX, before the withdrawal allowance. SCB did not immediately respond.
How the state of FTX affects Bankman-fried
In his interview with Fong, Bankman-fried denied the allegations that the allowance was a move to allow people within the company to access the funds.
He says, “Oh no, it wasn’t for insider withdrawals; rather, the exchange was trying to work out a new regulatory pathway.”
The former FTX CEO also stated in the interview on November 16 that he was close to identifying the FTX hacker. The hacker is believed to have stolen assets worth over $450 million shortly after the exchange declared bankruptcy on November 11.
“I’m not sure who blocked me from accessing the systems just as I was about halfway through my investigations. Eight people remain on my suspect list. I’m not sure which one it was, but my intuition is generally good.” he continues “Either an ex-employee or someplace someone installed malware on an ex-employees machine,”
Billionaire To Not Even a Millionaire in 30 days
The former FTX CEO disclosed in an interview by Axio, he only had about $100K in his bank account. That was on Nov. 29.
This is despite the fact that Bankman-Fried’s net worth was reportedly $26 billion. The new networth of SBF is a decline of about $25,999,900,000.
Sam Bankman-Fried claims that the now-bankrupt corporation was “essentially everything” to him.
“I don’t know, I mean. I’m not sure. Last time I checked, I had $100,000 in my bank account, he remarked.
There’s so much speculation and different theories on what’s going on within the FTX family. We’d like to believe that the withdrawal allowance wasn’t for the people within the company. And we’re hoping for the best, in the future of Crypto.
