Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has divulged what really happened in the days leading up to the bankruptcy filing, when the exchange selectively reopened withdrawals, only to Bahamian users.
In a phone interview with blogger, Tiffany Fong, dated November 16, Bankman-Fried says he made the decision to reopen withdrawals to Bahamian citizens, not wanting himself, or the exchange, to be in a country “with a lot of angry people.”
“The reason I did it was that it was essential for the exchange to have a future, because that’s where I am right now, and you don’t want to be in a country with a lot of angry people and you don’t want your company to become a country with many angry people”, said.
Bankman-Fried claims that gave Bahamian securities regulators “a day’s notice” that FTX was going to do so, But he said the regulator gave neither a “yes nor a no” response, before he finally decided to go ahead with authorizing the withdrawals.
“So realistically it sucks, but […] The path for FTX involved Bahamians not getting mad at him.”
The now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange initially halted all withdrawals on Nov. 8 as a result of liquidity issues.
On November 10, just one day before filing for bankruptcy, the exchange said it had begun facilitating the withdrawal of funds from the Bahamas. At that moment, It claimed it complied with the demands of the country’s regulators, which led to millions of dollars’ worth of funds being pulled from the exchange.
However, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) shot down FTX’s account, stating on November 12 that it had not instructed or authorized FTX to prioritize withdrawals from Bahamian customers.
He also warned that any withdrawal of funds could be recovered as part of the company’s liquidation process.
Cointelegraph contacted the SCB to confirm if it had received communication from FTX prior to the reopening of the exchange’s withdrawals, and what was his response at that time. The BSC did not immediately respond.
Audio from my first interview with Sam Bankman-Fried. SBF talks bankruptcy, the alleged “backdoor,” donations to the Democratic Party, Ukraine money laundering rumors, the hack, Alameda’s margin position on FTX, using FTT as collateral & more. https://t.co/qVfUv6dhww
—Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) November 29, 2022
Audio of my first interview with Sam Bankman-Fried. SBF talks about bankruptcy, alleged “back door”, donations to the Democratic Party, rumors of money laundering in Ukraine, hacking, Alameda’s margin position in FTX, use of FTT as collateral and much more.
In his most recent interview with Fong, Bankman-Fried denied that the move was to make it easier for people within FTX to withdraw funds after Fong suggested that was the way it was viewed.
“Oh, this was not about insider withdrawals, this was trying to create a regulatory path forward for the exchange.”
Bankman-Fried was on the trail of the FTX hacker
The former FTX executive also noted during the November 16 interview that was close to finding out the identity of the FTX hacker, who is understood to have stolen more than $450 million worth of assets shortly after the exchange filed for bankruptcy on November 11.
“I don’t know exactly who, because they shut down all access to the systems when I was halfway through the investigation. I’ve narrowed it down to eight people. I don’t know who it was, but I have a pretty good idea.”
Bankman-Fried said she thinks was “a former employee or someone installed malware on a former employee’s computer.”
In another more recent interview with Sam Bankman-Fried conducted by Axios on November 29, the former CEO of FTX has revealed that as of today he only has about $100,000 left in his bank account.
All this despite Bankman-Fried had a estimated worth of $26 billion at his prime.
Bankman-Fried claims he had “basically everything” invested in the company, now bankrupt.
“I mean, I have no idea. I don’t know. Last time I checked, I had $100,000 in my bank account,” said.
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