Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) claims in a Substack post that he never stole funds from FTX.
Key Details
- SBF was charged earlier this month with multiple counts of fraud following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in November, in what bankruptcy lawyers call one of the worst-managed financial firms in history. He was released on bail for $250 million.
- With a trial slated for later this year, SBF has opened up a Substack account to challenge claims made against him publicly.
- “I’ve been, regrettably, slow to respond to public misperceptions and material misstatements,” says SBF.
- In a January 12 post, SBF claimed that he didn’t personally steal any of the funds, that Alameda Research’s failures caused the collapse, that crashing markets and attacks from rival exchanges destroyed FTX, and that he’s working to return funds to the U.S. users.
Why It’s News
As we reported previously, SBF has been using his newly created Substack to defend himself. He claimed on Tuesday, January 17, FTX’s U.S. branch was and remains solvent. “This post is about FTX International’s (in)solvency. It’s not about FTX US, because FTX US is fully solvent and always has been.”
With the potential of a years-long prison sentence awaiting him, he’s decided to attempt to salvage his public reputation by responding to some of the criminal claims made against him. This backfired on him previously though, following several incriminating public statements and interviews made in early December—appearing on Good Morning America, New York Times Dealbook, and offering personal details to a Vox Media journalist.
SBF continues to point the finger of blame away from himself, only admitting to incompetence and mismanagement rather than fraud.
Notable Quote
“I didn’t steal funds, and I certainly didn’t stash billions away. Nearly all of my assets were and still are utilizable to backstop FTX customers. I have, for instance, offered to contribute nearly all of my personal shares in Robinhood to customers—or 100%, if the Chapter 11 team would honor my D&O legal expense indemnification,” says SBF.
