- SBF says he will give anything to start a new venture to repay FTX users
- Sam Bankman-Fried says he did not “knowingly commit fraud.”
- The former FTX CEO is under fire from several investigative bodies, with the possibility of jail time, cancelling any plans to launch a new company.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX and ex-CEO, has given several interviews over the past month to answer questions regarding the now-bankrupt exchange, and one question has persisted-
What happens to the customers whose funds were given to Alameda and couldn’t be recouped?
In a recent interview with BBC, on Dec.12, the now disgraced former CEO declared interest in building a new venture aimed at recouping and paying back the money he owes investors.
When asked if he was willing to start a new business to repay FTX users, SBF said, “I would give anything to be able to do that. And I’m going to try if I can.”
“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 added. “I think, at the very least, I have a duty to FTX users to do right by them as best as I can.”
Bankman-Fried had previously admitted that he was responsible for FTX’s collapse. “I’m sorry. That’s the biggest thing. I fucked up and should have done better,” he tweeted last month.
“Transparently–my hands were tied during the duration of the possible Binance deal; I wasn’t particularly allowed to say much publicly. But of course, it’s on me that we ended up there in the first place.”
Although, this was before the whole debacle unfolded, and it was revealed that SBF had inappropriately used customers’ funds. He now faces several federal investigations into his former company’s handling of funds.
“I didn’t knowingly commit fraud.”
With every interview Sam Bankman-Fried has given, the 30-year-old has remained fixated on what he believes to be his truth, that he did not knowingly commit fraud.
In an earlier interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin, SBF, he insisted that he did not “ever try to commit fraud on anyone” and did not “commingle funds.”
While interviewing with the BBC team, whom he invited to his residential complex in the Bahamas, SBF replied: “I didn’t knowingly commit fraud, I don’t think I committed fraud, I didn’t want any of this to happen. I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was,” when asked if he was fraudulent or incompetent.
SBF’s New Venture Might Never Take Off
The former CEO, once hailed as a philanthropist and industry player when FTX still held its grand position, has become crypto’s number one public enemy. Some people have tagged the entire FTX operation as a Ponzi scheme and, even more, wish to see him pay for his alleged fraudulent actions.
In addition to a lack of public trust, Sam Bankman-Fried is facing federal charges and possibly a prison sentence.
Multiple regulatory agencies, like the Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee, are investigating FTX’s past activities and have requested his presence at investigative hearings.
He has been ordered to testify before the House Committee on Financial Services on the 13th as a witness to give his accounts of what happened at FTX.
On Dec. 8, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Sherrod Brown, and ranking member of the Committee, Senator Pat Toomey, released a statement regarding the Committee’s request.
“FTX’s collapse has caused real financial harm to consumers, and effects have spilled over into other parts of the crypto industry. The American people need answers about Sam Bankman-Fried’s misconduct at FTX,” Brown and Toomey stated.
“The Committee has requested that he testify at our upcoming hearing on FTX’s collapse and will consider further action if he does not comply.”
His name is on the list of witnesses to attend the Dec. 13 hearing titled “Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I.” John Ray, the new CEO of FTX, will also be present.
The chances of a new venture, owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, taking off are slim, as he would need financial support from other companies and users- both of which he once had and has lost.
His desire to start a new business to generate funds is nothing more than a desire.
