The CEO and founder of crypto exchange platform FTX, Sam Bankman Fried in a recent interview revealed that he hopes to start a new business to pay back investors for their losses following the collapse of his company.
The former crypto billionaire disclosed that he wouldn’t mind starting a new venture to compensate FTX investors.
While speaking in the interview, he said, “I’m going to be thinking about how we can help the world and if users haven’t gotten much back, I’m going to be thinking about what I can do for them,” he said. “And I think at the very least, I have a duty to FTX users to do right by them as best as I can.”
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Recall that SBF two days ago had agreed to honor the invitation of the House Committee which he said that he would try to be helpful to shed light on the cryptocurrency exchange’s U.S. solvency and American customers, with pathways that could return value to users, which he believes led to the crash of FTX.
Bankman-Fried has said that he takes responsibility for the collapse of his company, however debunking rumors that he knowingly committed fraud. Although, he admitted that he was not as competent as he thought he was which he believes led to the collapse.
Speaking on one of the accusations that he arranged for Alameda Research to use customers’ assets in FTX to place bets in the market, he said he did not knowingly co-mingle customers’ assets with Alameda.
When asked if he is preparing for the possibility of arrest and prison, he said, “There’s some time at night ruminating, yes, but when I get up during the day, I try and focus, be as productive as I can, and ignore things that are out of my control.”
Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk who had earlier weighed in on the matter, recently suggests that Sam Bankman-Fried should go to prison.
In a response to a Twitter user who stated that “SBF doesn’t need anymore mentioning except for his court date”, Musk tweeted, “he needs an ‘adult timeout in the big house”
Agreed. Let’s just give him an adult timeout in the big house & move on.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 3, 2022
Also, Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has disclosed that the former FTX CEO should be afraid of going to jail for a long time.
Following the collapse of FTX which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is currently facing a series of investigations.
He has been accused of mishandling customer funds after at least $1 billion reportedly disappeared from the exchange.
The U.S. Justice Department is also pushing for an independent examiner to investigate fraud allegations against FTX, despite Bankman-Fried stating he didn’t ever try to commit fraud on anyone.
Overall, more than $1.3 trillion of value has been wiped off the crypto market this year, and the FTX collapse has only worsened the situation, according to analysts.
Also, FTX’s native utility token FTT has since collapsed alongside the centralized cryptocurrency exchange, as it plunged by 90%, wiping out over $2.6 billion.
Its collapse has no doubt worsened the volatile crypto market with Bitcoin currently trading at $16,983 and has also affected the valuation of some companies with several others contemplating filing for bankruptcy.
There has been huge anxiety, particularly among FTX investors, about when and whether Bankman-Fried will be brought to justice. Despite clear signs of fraud as reported by some agencies, he does not seem to have been detained by law enforcement.
However, the investigation is still ongoing, as fingers remain crossed, while investors await the outcome of the whole process.