Sam Bankman-Fried, former boss of the FTX cryptocurrency trading platform, said he was “deeply sorry” on Wednesday after the company’s bankruptcy, but denied having committed a scam, questioned as part of of a New York Times conference.
Caught in a wave of panic that had prompted users to attempt to withdraw their funds from the platform en masse, FTX first suspended withdrawals, before being forced into bankruptcy on November 11.
“I am deeply sorry for what happened,” Sam Bankman-Fried said in his first public interview since the FTX default. “I was managing director of FTX, which means that whatever happens, I had an obligation to preserve the interests of shareholders and customers,” acknowledged the former manager.
During the interview, Sam Bankman-Fried appeared overwhelmed by events and seemed to have only a very partial view of the underside of FTX’s failure. “I clearly made a lot of mistakes, things that I would give everything to be able to correct today,” continued the 30-year-old.
A billion dollars not found
According to the Wall Street Journal, at the time of the bankruptcy filing, the sums taken, without express authorization, by Alameda and coming from accounts of FTX customers reached approximately 10 billion dollars. Several American media have reported that more than a billion dollars of this total is today untraceable.
“I did not seek to commit fraud against anyone (…) I did not try to mix the funds” and use money belonging to customers to carry out, unbeknownst to them, risky investments, hammered Sam Bankman-Fried, in duplex video from the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered and where he still resides.
“I didn’t run Alameda,” he said, even though he was the main shareholder. “I did not know the size of their position”, that is to say the amount borrowed from FTX, assured this graduate in physics from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Upcoming criminal charges?
The man is also suspected of having used, with collaborators, funds deposited on the platform by FTX clients to carry out speculative financial transactions with his other company, Alameda Research. If proven, these facts could lead to criminal prosecution.
PODCAST. Bankruptcy of FTX: the lightning downfall of a cryptocurrency giant
Asked about this, Sam Bankman-Fried explained that he did not “(concentrate) on it”, adding that his lawyers had advised him against speaking publicly.
By far the most prominent personality in the world of cryptocurrencies, Sam Bankman-Fried embodied for some the future of the sector, especially since he said he was in favor of more regulation.