FTX Execs Are Allegedly Being Paid Off First: Here Are The Facts
- FTX is processing withdrawals but only for addresses that seem fishy and it looks like these addresses are being used to hide the personalities of people behind them.
- Twitter users claim that the exchange is paying off its employees and VPs first rather than processing the withdrawals of the users.
- Sam Bankman-Fried stated that the first and foremost issue for the exchange is to process withdrawals of the users and confirmed that he is talks with several people.
FTX crypto exchange announced that it wasn’t liquid anymore and a crisis had engulfed the exchange, which meant that the users couldn’t process withdrawals anymore. This announcement came as a shock to every user of the once-second-biggest crypto exchange in the blockchain space. Interestingly, almost every executive at the Bahamas-based firm, including the CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried stated that their firm was liquid a few days ago while the situation did not seem like it.
The executives at the exchange asked users not to withdraw funds from the platform as everything was safe and sound despite Binance’s announcement that it would sell FTX Tokens (FTT) worth billions, hinting at the possibility of a strong crash. This led to people immediately taking money out of their platform, and a record $5 billion was withdrawn from the exchange on Sunday, as noted by Bankman-Fried, also called SBF in the crypto space.
However, according to Jason Choi, the co-founder of Tangent and the founder at Blockcrunch, the executives including the VPs and other insiders are the first to be paid off and they are currently filling their bags. While withdrawals are currently not being processed at FTX, Choi pointed out that it was not the case and several people have been reporting outflows from the exchange.
Choi further pointed out that the withdrawals are being made to addresses that are quite “fishy.” While a number of these addresses look like “clean” addresses, it seems that these blockchain addresses are being used “deliberately to obfuscate any linkage to real individuals,” according to Choi, who has been in the crypto space for a considerable amount of time.
The author of best selling book, Nik Patel, pointed out that around $200,000 were sent to an address that’s interacted with other exchanges but not FTX but nothing in over 500 days. This is strange considering the fact that in the last 500 days, the crypto market has been increasingly volatile and almost every crypto coin has either made significant strides, or collapsed completely like LUNC.
“I don’t think I believe in coincidences anymore after what happened. My hunch is that VIPs/insiders are being paid off first as many employees – many of whom were publicly asking people to not withdraw – had their assets stored on FTX,” Choi added.
Many other people also pointed out the fact that FTX is paying employees first despite Bankman-Fried apologizing and stating that he plans to “do right by the users.”
Choi himself has funds stuck on FTX and refuses to believe anything without evidence.
“For now, not believing a single word until I have evidence. I have initiated withdrawals since the 8th and will keep Twitter posted if any of them are processed – then I’ll know it’s real,”Choi said.
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.
