FTX CEO Issues A Public Apology, Plans To “Do Right By The Users”
- The CEO of crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried issued a public apology on Twitter and owned all the mistakes he made while being in charge of the now close to bankruptcy exchange.
- He said that due to “poor internal labeling” of bank-related accounts, he was “substantially off” on his sense of users’ margin which led to $5 billion in withdrawals on Sunday.
- The executive further added that his firm’s number 1 priority is to “do right by the users” and revealed that the exchange is in talks with several parties for a bailout deal.
- Going forward, SBF confirmed that Alameda Research won’t be trading on FTX exchange anymore and if the firm remains operations, 100% on-chain transparency will be maintained.
After a long period of silence, the CEO of crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, issued a public apology on Twitter stating that he should’ve been more careful and also, commented on the future of the exchange and how the Bahamas-based firm will get its neck out of the trouble it is in.
Additionally, in the Twitter thread on Thursday, Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF in the crypto community, confirmed that the US arm of FTX, FTX.US is fully liquid and is not facing any withdrawal halt unlike the internal arm of the exchange.
The former crypto billionaire saw his wealth drop significantly over the past few days. SBF was worth almost $26 billion at the peak of his popularity but since then, he saw his wealth drop to less than a billionaire after the token he created, FTT token, was reduced to ashes following the announcement from Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ in the space, that his firm would sell over $2 billion in FTT.
FTX CEO Breaks Silence
The FTX executive stated that he has been silent for the past few days because Binance demanded it and he “wasn’t particularly allowed to say much publicly.” While apologizing, the crypto personality stated, “But of course it’s on me that we ended up there in the first place.”
Thereafter, the former crypto star, who was one of the biggest donators in the recent Presidential elections in the US, went on to release an update on the future of his firm and its existence and also, on when the withdrawals will be allowed.
“FTX International currently has a total market value of assets/collateral higher than client deposits (moves with prices!). But that’s different from liquidity for delivery–as you can tell from the state of withdrawals. The liquidity varies widely, from very to very little,” said SBF.
The FTX CEO accepted that he made two mistakes that proved to be the death knell for his exchange. Firstly, he stated that due to “poor internal labeling” of bank-related accounts, he was “substantially off” on his sense of users’ margin. “I thought it was way lower,” he said. This resulted in over $5 billion worth of withdrawals on Sunday, which was the largest every for the exchange.
The second mistake that SBF made can be seen in the Twitter post embedded below. His miscalculations led to the liquidity crunch that the exchange is currently in.
Doing Right By The Users
He once again apologized for not communicating enough and said that his number 1 priority is to “do right by the users.”
“So, right now, we’re spending the week doing everything we can to raise liquidity. I can’t make any promises about that. But I’m going to try. And give anything I have to if that will make it work,” said the FTX executive.
He also confirmed that FTX is currently in talks with multiple parties to solve its issues. According to market rumors, the executive is working up a deal with Tron founder Justin Sun.
Bankman-Fried also confirmed that every penny received from the parties and with the collateralization of the assets, “will go straight to users,” until all the users haven’t been made full. After the customers, SBF will see that the exchange does right by its employees and investors as well.
“Because at the end of the day, I was CEO, which means that I was responsible for making sure that things went well. I, ultimately, should have been on top of everything. I clearly failed in that. I’m sorry,” Bankman-Fried said.
Going Forward
Going forward, FTX CEO confirmed that Alameda Research won’t be trading on FTX exchange anymore and “in any scenario in which FTX continues operating, its first priority will be radical transparency–transparency it probably always should have been giving.” He stated that the exchange, if operational, will provide “as close to on-chain transparency as it can, so that people know exactly what is happening on it.”
“All of the stakeholders would have a hard look at FTX governance. I will not be around if I’m not wanted. All of the stakeholders–investors, regulators, users–would have a large part to play in how it would be run,” confirmed Bankman-Fried.
FTX US Remains 100% Liquid
Thanks to the strict regulatory policies of the United States SEC, FTX US remains 100% liquid and withdrawals are being processed for the users.
While ending his Twitter thread, FTX CEO Bankman-Fried threw a shot at Binance CEO, Zhao, calling him a “sparring partner.”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
