On April 27th, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci revealed what the final days of FTX were like, claiming that most of the failed cryptocurrency exchange's employees probably didn't know its executives were working behind closed doors. something until it's too late.
In a panel discussion titled “FTX: What Happened?” at Consensus 2023, Scaramucci detailed what happened from his perspective. The SkyBridge founder said he recalls hearing FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried make negative comments about Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao “CZ. "
Scaramucci claims CZ responded by selling his FTX token holdings. However, CZ said the reason for unloading FTX tokens was “post-exit risk management,” possibly because he reviewed the company's leaked balance sheet that revealed worries ties between FTX and si ster company Alameda Research . However, Scaramucci emphasized that CZ did not cause FTX to go out of business, explaining: “If Sam runs it right, business is going to be good. There are people who stand on stage like this and say, 'Well, CZ broke … Sam.' No, no. Sam runs that company way to bankrupt him."
Scaramucci said he had just returned from giving a speech in Florida on Nov. 6 or 7. After talking to Bankman-Freid's father, he learned that FTX had some sort of liquidity problem. He argued that the exchange has assets to repay depositors, but These assets cannot be sold quickly, threatening to force the exchange to stop withdrawals. Scaramucci wanted to help with the swap, he said. But "later in the evening, that number increased from 1 billion to 4.5 billion," referring to the dollar amount of the liquidity shortfall. This convinced him that something more serious was afoot at the exchange. He immediately booked a flight to the Bahamas to visit FTX headquarters and see what was going on. When he arrived, "the war room was frustrated,and I would say that a few people were very aware that there was a small group of people who did something that they didn't allow other people to be a part of," he explained.
Scaramucci stated that the FTX debacle is an example of why fraud is almost always committed by a small group of people: "The way the crime is committed is by very small groups. It's very difficult to commit a crime like this with a large group of people, because with what you know about psychology and sociology, there's always someone with a conscience who will come forward Say, 'Hey, I don't want to do this.'”
Scaramucci suggested that FTX was a fraud and not just a victim of a liquidity crisis triggered by market events, stating: "Three of the four have pleaded guilty. So, guys, when the window opens and you hear hooves outside, that's a horse. It's not a zebra. See how Sam based himself on It will be fun to make a decision on the plate." FTX filed for bankruptcy in November. Two of its top executives, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison have pleaded guilty to fraud. Bankman-Fried was also charged with fraud. However, he pleaded not guilty and claimed to recover some of the lost money.
