Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pushed again on critics who've in contrast him to the late Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, at the same time as he deflected questions over whether or not he is likely to be headed to jail.
The 30-year-old former crypto kingpin claimed throughout a Thursday interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that FTX’s downfall “reads very in a different way” than the fallout from Madoff’s scheme to bilk buyers out of billions through the Nice Recession.
That’s regardless of lingering questions concerning the billions of dollars that FTX owes to its many collectors in chapter, in addition to at the very least $1 billion in shopper funds which might be nonetheless lacking.
“Lots of people take a look at you and see Bernie Madoff,” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos stated to Bankman-Fried.
“Yeah, I imply, I don’t suppose that’s who I'm in any respect, however I perceive why they’re saying that,” Bankman-Fried replied. “Individuals misplaced cash and other people misplaced some huge cash. On the finish of the day, look, there’s a query of what occurred and why and who did what, what brought about the meltdown. I feel that reads very in a different way.”
“While you take a look at the traditional Bernie Madoff story, there was no actual enterprise there,” Bankman-Fried added. “The entire thing, as I perceive it, I feel, was one massive Ponzi scheme. FTX, that was an actual enterprise.”
Bankman-Fried’s ABC interview is a part of an ongoing apology tour throughout a interval of mounting authorized and regulatory scrutiny over his actions within the days previous to FTX’s collapse. All through the interview, the ex-billionaire squirmed in his seat and took lengthy pauses earlier than answering direct questions on his mismanagement.
At one level, Stephanopoulos grilled Bankman-Fried on whether or not he's afraid he'll face jail time over the FTX meltdown.
“There are quite a lot of issues which might be worrying me proper now,” Bankman-Fried replied. “And, you understand, as finest as potential, I’m making an attempt to deal with what I can do going ahead to be useful and let no matter regulatory and authorized processes which might be taking place play out as they'll.”
Stephanopoulos requested Bankman-Fried to reply, point-blank, whether or not he knew that FTX shopper funds had been being funneled to assist cowl dangerous bets made by the platform’s sister cryptocurrency buying and selling agency Alameda Analysis, whose CEO was his ex-girfriend Caroline Ellison.
After a prolonged pause, Bankman-Fried stated he “didn't know that there was any improper use of buyer funds.”
Bankman-Fried additionally reiterated his declare that FTX’s meltdown has successfully destroyed his private fortune.
“I anticipate I’m gonna don't have anything on the finish of this,” he stated.
Final month, Reuters reported that Bankman-Fried had secretly transferred $10 billion in FTX shopper funds to Alameda Analysis. No less than $1 billion of that cash has disappeared.
Distinguished critics embrace new FTX CEO John Ray III, a veteran of Enron’s chapter who stated accounting practices and company governance requirements beneath Bankman-Fried’s management had been the worst he’s seen in his profession.
Courtroom filings and remarks from former staff have revealed lavish spending habits at FTX earlier than its collapse, together with $300 million on luxurious actual property within the Bahamas and a collection of staff perks that reportedly included all-expenses-paid journeys, free massages and an on-site barbershop.
Through the interview, Bankman-Fried admitted that he hadn’t spent “any time or effort” on threat administration at FTX.
Bankman-Fried additionally appeared on the New York Instances’ DealBook summit on Wednesday, the place he stated he “didn’t ever attempt to commit fraud.”
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