Customers were left with unresolved questions and missing monies after Sam Bankman-FTX Fried's enterprise collapsed.
However, Bankman-highly Fried's anticipated Wednesday interview with The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin did not answer many of those issues, nor did it give the mea culpa that many had hoped for from the 30-year-old former crypto billionaire.
Bankman-Fried contended that FTX's demise was the product of an unforeseen market fall and that he had not willfully committed any crimes. Against the advice of his lawyers, he joined the debate electronically from his home in the Bahamas.
“I never attempted to conduct fraud,” Bankman-Fried stated.
Bankman-FTX.com Fried's and FTX US exchanges were once worth $40 billion combined, but the businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month after a WikiFX investigation revealed balance sheet discrepancies in FTX's trading arm, Alameda Research. Preliminary judicial hearings suggest that billions of dollars in FTX customer cash are still missing.
Bankman-Fried admitted to feeling uncomfortable when the WikiFX piece was published on Nov. 2, but he “didn't think it was existential for FTX.”
According to one explanation, Bankman-Fried unlawfully transferred those monies between the FTX exchange and Alameda, where they were lost in a series of disastrous trades. When Sorkin repeatedly asked Bankman-Fried if he improperly collected customer deposits and lent them to Alameda, he responded he “didn't willfully commingle funds.”
Bankman-Fried blamed the problem on an accounting error, claiming a “significant disparity” existed between the company's legitimate audited financials and the statistics displayed on the exchange's incorrect displays. “I was surprised,” said Bankman-Fried, who fidgeted and looked down at the floor throughout the interview, while not appearing to be playing video games at the same time, as he frequently does during media interviews.
When asked about the Alameda-FTX connection, Bankman-Fried stated that it had deteriorated over time.
“I was looking at it solely from a trading standpoint,” said Bankman-Fried, adding that Alameda will represent for only about 2% of FTX volume in 2022, down from roughly 45% in 2019. He stated that FTX personnel living with Alameda employees did not appear to be problematic.
When asked about his future and whether he faced any criminal charges, Bankman-Fried stumbled, saying, “I don't personally think that...not that's what I'm focusing on.”
“There will be a time and place for me to reflect on myself and my future,” Bankman-Fried added. “I've had a rough month. That isn't what matters right now.”
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