Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

Sam Bankman-Fried Apologizes for FTX Liquidity Crisis: ‘I Fucked Up Twice’

Cointime Official

In one of his first public statements since rumors and concerns about FTX’s insolvency flooded the crypto market, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF, has said: “I’m sorry.”

1) I'm sorry. That's the biggest thing.

I fucked up, and should have done better.

2) I also should have been communicating more very recently.

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.

3) So here's an update on where things are.

[THIS IS ALL ABOUT FTX INTERNATIONAL, THE NON-US EXCHANGE. FTX US USERS ARE FINE!]

[TREAT ALL OF THESE NUMBERS AS ROUGH. THERE ARE APPROXIMATIONS HERE.]

4) FTX International currently has a total market value of assets/collateral higher than client deposits (moves with prices!).

But that's different from liquidity for delivery--as you can tell from the state of withdrawals. The liquidity varies widely, from very to very little.

5) The full story here is one I'm still fleshing out every detail of, but as a very high level, I fucked up twice.

The first time, a poor internal labeling of bank-related accounts meant that I was substantially off on my sense of users' margin. I thought it was way lower.

6) My sense before:

Leverage: 0x

USD liquidity ready to deliver: 24x average daily withdrawals

Actual:

Leverage: 1.7x

Liquidity: 0.8x Sunday's withdrawals

Because, of course, when it rains, it pours. We saw roughly $5b of withdrawals on Sunday--the largest by a huge margin.

7) And so I was off twice.

Which tells me a lot of things, both specifically and generally, that I was shit at.

And a third time, in not communicating enough. I should have said more. I'm sorry--I was slammed with things to do and didn't give updates to you all.

8) And so we are where we are. Which sucks, and that's on me.

I'm sorry.

9) Anyway: right now, my #1 priority--by far--is doing right by users.

And I'm going to do everything I can to do that. To take responsibility, and do what I can.

10) So, right now, we're spending the week doing everything we can to raise liquidity.

I can't make any promises about that. But I'm going to try. And give anything I have to if that will make it work.

11) There are a number of players who we are in talks with, LOIs, term sheets, etc.

We'll see how that ends up.

12) Every penny of that--and of the existing collateral--will go straight to users, unless or until we've done right by them.

After that, investors--old and new--and employees who have fought for what's right for their career, and who weren't responsible for any of the fuck ups.

13) Because at the end of the day, I was CEO, which means that *I* was responsible for making sure that things went well. *I*, ultimately, should have been on top of everything.

I clearly failed in that. I'm sorry.

14) So, what does this mean going forward?

I'm not sure--that depends on what happens over the next week.

But here are some things I know.

15) First, one way or another, Alameda Research is winding down trading.

They aren't doing any of the weird things that I see on Twitter--and nothing large at all. And one way or another, soon they won't be trading on FTX anymore.

16) Second, in any scenario in which FTX continues operating, its first priority will be radical transparency--transparency it probably always should have been giving.

Giving as close to on-chain transparency as it can: so that people know *exactly* what is happening on it.

17) All of the stakeholders would have a hard look at FTX governance. I will not be around if I'm not wanted.

All of the stakeholders--investors, regulators, users--would have a large part to play in how it would be run.

18) But all of that isn't what matters right now--what matters right now is trying to do right by customers. That's it.

19) A few other assorted comments:

This was about FTX International. FTX US, the US based exchange that accepts Americans, was not financially impacted by this shitshow.

It's 100% liquid. Every user could fully withdraw (modulo gas fees etc).

Updates on its future coming.

20) At some point I might have more to say about a particular sparring partner, so to speak.

But you know, glass houses. So for now, all I'll say is:

well played; you won.

21) NOT ADVICE, OF ANY KIND, IN ANY WAY

I WAS NOT VERY CAREFUL WITH MY WORDS HERE, AND DO NOT MEAN ANY OF THEM IN A TECHNICAL OR LEGAL SENSE; I MAY WELL HAVE NOT DESCRIBED THINGS RIGHT though I'm trying to be transparent. I'M NOT A GOOD DEV AND PROBABLY MISDESCRIBED SOMETHING.

22) And, finally:

I sincerely apologize.

SBF
Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • U.S. July Nonfarm Payrolls Fall by 23,000, Missing Market Expectations

    On August 7, U.S. nonfarm payrolls decreased by 23,000 in July, compared with market expectations of an increase of 80,000, and the previous value was an increase of 57,000.

  • US May and June Nonfarm Payroll Additions Revised Down by 103,000 Combined

    On August 7, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: May nonfarm payroll additions were revised down from 129,000 to 63,000; June nonfarm payroll additions were revised down from 57,000 to 20,000. After the revisions, the combined additions for May and June were 103,000 lower than previously reported.

  • U.S. Rate Futures Market Sees Lower Odds of Fed September Hike

    On August 7, the probability of a Fed rate hike in September as priced by U.S. interest rate futures declined.

  • New York Gold Futures Top $4,400 per Ounce

    New York gold futures topped $4,400 per ounce, up 2.36% on the day.

  • Japan Finance Minister: FX Market Affected by Moves Not Driven by Actual Demand

    Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she and U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent agreed that the foreign exchange market has been affected by moves not driven by actual demand.

  • BTC Breaks Through $65,000

    Market data shows BTC has broken through $65,000, currently reported at $65,007.44, with a 24-hour increase of 0.6%. The market is highly volatile, please exercise risk control.

  • Brent Crude Drops 2.00% Intraday to $81.07/Barrel

    Brent crude oil fell 2.00% during the day, now at $81.07 per barrel. (Jin Shi)

  • Trump: Data Centers May Be More Important Than Oil

    August 7 news, U.S. President Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News, "I saw the other day that Texas seems to be opposed to building data centers. I think that's a mistake. I'm not taking a position—I just think it's a mistake, because there are other communities that want to build data centers. When a community is willing to accept data centers, it means a lot of money will flow into that community. I don't think they're ugly. Some of the data centers I've seen are the most incredible buildings I've ever seen. They are very important to the economy. If Texas says no to data centers, that's a mistake, because data centers may be more important than oil."

  • Trump to Meet with Mining Executives

    On August 7, according to CCTV International News, US President Trump will convene executives from some of the world's largest mining companies at the US State Department on August 7 local time, in an effort to take action to 'secure critical mineral supplies for the US and its allies.' Reuters reported that the US urgently needs critical minerals to replenish weapons inventories depleted during the war against Iran. During the more than five-month war with Iran, the US military expended large quantities of precision-guided missiles and air defense interceptors. US defense officials and lawmakers have warned that given existing production capacity constraints, replenishing some stockpiles could take years—although the Trump administration has denied reports of a so-called 'severe shortage of ammunition stockpiles.' According to Pentagon officials and defense companies, supplies of minerals such as rare earths, tungsten, germanium, and scandium are essential for manufacturing precision-guided missiles, fighter jets, armored vehicles, infrared sensors, and other advanced weapons systems. Expected attendees include industry giants such as global mining giant Rio Tinto Group, Australia's BHP, US Freeport-McMoRan, US Mountain Pass Materials, US Rare Earths, US Energy Fuels, and Canada's Metals Company. According to sources, the Trump administration plans to announce multiple deals and memorandums of understanding.

  • US Regulators Systematically Review Chinese AI Firms' Third-Country Computing Power Leasing

    August 7 news, according to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter revealed that the U.S. government department responsible for investigating chip export control violations is reviewing Chinese AI companies' leasing of computing power in third countries to obtain Nvidia advanced chips.