Can FTX survive? Sam Bankman-Fried is still trying to raise rescue funds to repay 1 million customers
The fallout of what was once the world’s third largest crypto exchange has continued to unravel as former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried vowed to make things right for FTX.
In a series of tweets published on 15 November, Bankman-Fried set out his intention to raise rescue funds for the exchange with a goal to “make customers whole” again.
In addition, Slack messages from the former CEO have surfaced outlining that he is speaking with investors to raise rescue funds after rival exchange Binance backed out of the deal to acquire FTX.
“My goal – my one goal – is to do right by customers. I’m contributing what I can to doing so,” said Bankman-Fried on Twitter, before he added that he’s also meeting in-person with regulators.
13) My goal—my one goal—is to do right by customers.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 15, 2022
I’m contributing what I can to doing so. I’m meeting in-person with regulators and working with the teams to do what we can for customers.
And after that, investors. But first, customers.
The exchange currently has more than one million creditors following its downfall last week after a news report raised questions about the balance sheet of Alameda Research – and Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao confirmed that his firm would offload its entire holding of the ftx token (FTT) – the native crypto used by the FTX ecosystem.
FTT to USD
FTX chaos continues
Bankman-Fried is reportedly still in the Bahamas after FTX and its more than 110 subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday 11 November. He resigned as CEO of the company with ex-Enron bankruptcy lawyer John Ray III stepping in as his successor.
Hours after FTX’s bankruptcy was confirmed, the exchange suffered a major breach that saw close to $600m wiped from its crypto wallets and user accounts.
FTX confirmed it had been the subject of a breach via its Telegram channel, instructing users to delete all FTX apps and not to install any new upgrades.
“FTX has been hacked. FTX apps are malware. Delete them,” said an account administrator. Several wallet holders reported that they were seeing $0 in their accounts shortly after.
There have been rumours swirling of potential prominent figures within the crypto industry that could extend a helping hand to Bankman-Fried to help raise funds.
Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Tether (USDT), was one of the rumoured individuals, before he tweeted to confirm that Tether had “no plans” to invest in or lend assets to FTX.
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