Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX who once had a net worth of $26 billion, claims he only had $100,000 left in his bank account the last time he checked.
The founder made the statement in a recent interview with the American news website Axios.
From $26B to $100K
When asked about his finances following FTX’s collapse, SBF said:
“Am I allowed to say a negative number? I mean, I have no idea. I don’t know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked.”
SBF noted that his financial situation is complicated because everything he had was tied up in FTX, which was once valued at a staggering $32 billion before its collapse this month.
FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11 after facing a liquidity crisis, and a deal to sell itself to rival exchange Binance failed to materialize. At the same time, SBF resigned as CEO of the company.
“I wish I’d been more careful… I obviously deeply regret this. I’ve been focusing on volume, rather than positions for balances. I should have been more responsible, and I should have been more on top of what was going on,” he said.
The founder added during the interview that regulation and proper oversight could have prevented FTX from its collapse.
Subjects of Regulatory Scrutiny
FTX and its founder have been subject to regulatory scrutiny from several regulators since the crash.
United States regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), are both currently investigating the collapse of the crypto exchange. The SEC has also launched a separate probe into SBF over his alleged involvement in moves that helped push the company into a liquidity crunch.
In a recent National Address, Bahamas’ Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Ryan Pinder revealed that FTX is a subject of an active and ongoing investigation by authorities in the country.
