Samuel Bankman-Fried (born March 6, 1992), also known by his initials SBF, is an American entrepreneur, investor and founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, FTX.US and cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research.
"Not avoiding the extradition", he said, reports Fox News.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, in possibly the understatement of 2022, said Wednesday, “I’ve had a bad month.”
In a conversation with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin at the much-anticipated Dealbook Summit, the former billionaire added that he "didn't do a good job" of meeting his responsibilities to regulators, customers and investors.
Bankman-Fried's FTX crashed in mid-November after Coindesk reported fraud on the company's balance sheet. FTX filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on Nov. 11.
“I didn’t ever try to commit fraud on anyone,” Bankman-Fried said. “I saw it as a thriving business, and I was shocked by what happened this month.”
The political mega-donor claimed to have been reduced to $100,000 and had only one valid credit card left.
“We completely failed on risk,” Bankman-Fried continued. “That feels pretty embarrassing, in retrospect.”
Bankman-Fried emerged via a video feed from the Bahamas, Sorkin said.
When asked why he stayed in the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried said, "I’ve been in the Bahamas for the last year."
Alameda Research reports billions from other cryptocurrency exchanges, including now-bankrupt Voyager Digital and BlockFi Lending, despite the need to trade billions of their own cryptocurrencies. I borrowed a dollar
Sorkin asked Bankman-Fried if this commitment led him to aggressively acquire competitors throughout the year.
Bankman-Fried claimed Alameda believes he will repay all lines of credit to various loan desks by mid-2022. But Alameda still owes BlockFi more than $670 million, according to court filings. BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey on Monday.
Alameda's exposure to Voyager was fairly high. Alameda says he owes Voyager more than $1 billion as of December 2021. Alameda and FTX also provided Voyager with emergency credit lines over the summer. As part of the transaction, FTX has become Voyager's preferred borrower, allowing it to restructure its existing loans with Voyager.
"What are your lawyers telling you right now? Are they suggesting it’s a good idea for you to be speaking?" Sorkin asked the former billionaire.
"No, they’re very much not."
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