FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) addressed the cryptocurrency community via Twitter after the collapse of his exchange, admitting his mismanagement and apologizing.
He admitted that he “should have communicated with people earlier” and further claimed that “his hands were tied during the potential deal with Binance”. He made it clear that the problem only affects FTX International and not FTX US and stressed that “FTX users in the US are fine”:
“FTX International currently has a total market value of assets/securities higher than customer deposits. But this is different from liquidity, as you can see from the statement of withdrawals.”
On top of that he adds:
“I screwed up twice. The first time, a poor internal labelling of bank accounts meant that I didn’t really have a sense of user margin. I thought it was much lower.”
Seeking liquidity
FTX saw $5 billion in requests for withdrawals. It added that while it can’t make any promises, the company “spent the week doing everything it can to increase its liquidity. There are a number of players we’re talking to, we’ll see how this plays out,” the FTX CEO said.
End For Alameda Research
SBF advised that Alameda Research is ending its operations:
“Alameda Research is terminating its operations. They’re not doing any of the weird stuff I see on Twitter and nothing major. And one way or another, they will soon no longer be trading on FTX.”
Accusations about a partner of his
While SBF’s post was filled with apologies, it also left spikes for a colleague:
“At some point I may have more to say about a particular partner. But you know, glass houses. For now, all I’ll say is: Well played. You won.”
Attempt to cooperate with Kraken
According to a report published by Axios, two people familiar with the matter say that FTX tried to work with Kraken in an attempt for rescue funding.
In addition, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered FTX to immediately suspend its operations, citing that the regulator wants to protect creditors and investors from harm.
