Jakarta –
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former head of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has spoken out and denied the fraud. The man once hailed as the “King of Cryptocurrencies” told the New York Times that he was having a “bad month” and was almost out of money.
Bankman in early November, his wealth was still $16 billion or more than Rp 240 trillion. However, the treasure disappeared with the collapse of FTX.
Speaking from where he lives in the Bahamas, he says he only has one credit card left, and that’s about $100,000 in debt. Bankman says he is not misleading investors. “I’ve never tried to commit fraud,” he said.
The banker said for now he is not concerned about the potential for civil or criminal prosecution. “There’s a time and a place for me to think about myself and my future,” he said.
The downfall of FTX itself could not be separated from the role of the head of Binance, Changpeng Zhao. Changpeng also said that Bankman was a liar. Binance, a company similar in business to FTX, originally intended to buy FTX.
However, they suddenly canceled it and sold FTX-issued FTT digital assets. This caused a panic where many FTX users simultaneously withdrew FTX deposits which caused the company to collapse.
Zhao said Bankman misused consumers’ money. “Sam knows that he is using user funds to exchange for Alameda,” Zhao said.
He was referring to Alameda Research, the company run by Bankman’s girlfriend Caroline Ellison. “I was shocked, I didn’t know she lied to everyone,” Zhao said.
Therefore, FTX uses the money deposited by its users to trade through Alameda Research, which is high risk. Zhao learned of the ulcers after his company, Binance, studied FTX’s finances.
Also see this week’s figure: Caring to the End
(fyk/fyk)
