‘I’m sorry’ says boss of crypto exchange FTX.com as crisis mounts
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‘I’m Sorry’ Says Crypto Boss As Crisis Rises: FTX.com Exchange Is On The Edge
The billionaire behind FTX.com said yesterday, “I’m sorry…I’m tired” when the crypto-currency exchange was about to collapse.
Sam Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, apologized as the debacle sent shockwaves through the crypto world.
Last night he was on an urgent call to bail out his company as it struggles to raise around £8bn amid a flurry of customer withdrawals – and seemed to suggest he was ready to step away.
Speaking of money: FTX.com boss Sam Bankman-Fried (pictured earlier this year with Tony Blair and Bill Clinton) has offered a humiliating apology
“I won’t be there if I’m not wanted,” the 30-year-old wrote on Twitter.
The episode sparked a wider sell-off in cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin dropping below $16,000 for the first time since late 2020, exactly one year after it peaked at nearly $69,000.
It later picked up in a wider market rally. The crisis marks a stunning fall from favor for Bankman-Fried, whose net worth was estimated at more than £20 billion just six months ago.
Named the world’s richest person under 30 last year, he drew Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, among others, to a crypto conference in the Bahamas earlier this year.
Founded in 2019, FTX was once valued at £27 billion and Bankman-Fried was once praised for stepping in to rescue other crypto firms.
But reports suggested mistakes made during those rescues were sowing the seeds of his current problems.
Last night it was he who sought help and revealed that he was in talks with ‘a number of players’.