By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said yesterday he was informed that embattled former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been interviewed by local authorities as investigations continue into the collapse of the crypto giant.
“I heard that he was,” Mr Davis said to reporters when asked about the issue yesterday.
He also told reporters he was not concerned that FTX’s collapse would negatively impact the country’s real estate market.
This comes after Mr Bankman-Fried gave a nearly hour long interview with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday at the DealBook Summit in New York City.
He spoke at the summit via video call from The Bahamas where he opened up about the crypto giant’s downfall and his transgressions that led to it.
He also recently sat down with ABC News for his first network interview since the swift collapse of his company, where he denied having knowledge of any “improper use” of customer funds.
The interview also took place from The Bahamas and was aired on the station yesterday morning.
When asked if he was worried about going to jail, Mr Bankman-Fried said: “There are a lot of things that are worrying me right now and as best as possible, I am trying to focus on what I can do going forward to be helpful and let whatever regulatory and legal processes that’s happening play out as they will.”
FTX’s swift demise came after CoinDesk, a publication which reports on cryptocurrency, broke the news in early November about a leaked document that appeared to show that Alameda Research, Mr Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency trading firm, held an unusually large amount of FTT tokens.
FTT tokens were created by FTX.
Days later, Binance, a crypto exchange considered a major rival to FTX, announced that it was selling all remaining FTT tokens, which then led to a large number of clients’ simultaneous withdrawing its assets from FTX.
After facing a liquidity crisis, FTX, Alameda Research, and “dozens other affiliated companies” filed a bankruptcy petition in Delaware.
The firm’s collapse is currently being investigated by local and international law agencies, who are particularly looking at the handling of FTX customers’ funds.
Addressing the downfall, the former CEO told ABC News: “Some part of it was just literal distraction. I really should have spent some time each day taking a step back and saying what are the most important things here and how do I have oversight of those and make sure that I’m not losing track of those.
“And frankly, I did a pretty incomplete job of that. I spent a lot less time looking at assets and looking at balances and positions because that’s not where revenue came from.”
Mr Bankman-Fried also admitted to not spending any effort on risk management, noting that was “obviously a mistake.”
“If I had been spending an hour a day thinking about risk management on FTX, I don’t think that would have happened,” he said. “I think I stopped working as hard for a bit. Honestly, if I look back on myself, I think I got a little cocky. I mean even more than a little bit and I think part of me felt like we made it.”
FTX Digital Markets, which is headquartered in The Bahamas, is the Bahamian subsidiary of FTX Trading Ltd, which is owner and operator of FTX.
It was incorporated in The Bahamas in July 2021 and has since injected millions of dollars into the Bahamian economy, mainly through real estate.
Last month, the Bahamas Securities Commission took action to freeze the assets of FTX Digital Markets and related parties and placed it into provisional liquidation.
The commission also suspended its registration and applied for the appointment of provisional liquidator of FTX Digital Markets Ltd.
Mr Bankman-Fried has already said he expects to be left with nothing after the dust settles, noting that he currently only has $100,000 in his bank account.
Comments
KapunkleUp 1 year, 4 months ago
The PM can act as cool as he wants but no one is going to believe him. He is neck deep in this debacle and, in all likelihood, is front and center at ordering every tiny step government is now taking.
Porcupine 1 year, 4 months ago
Isn't it amazing that a man/child can behave in this way, and garner all the attention that he does from politicians to media outlets. It is almost as if the thousands and thousands of hard working Bahamians who are still at the poverty line just don't matter. There are X number of hours in the day. And this is how we choose to spend them. God help us all. But, Poor people, you are on your own.
ThisIsOurs 1 year, 4 months ago
"So, what you is do? You could help me invest this 100 dollars? How much I could make? Whats tge best crypto on the market? You selling your car?".
-interrogation
ColumbusPillow 1 year, 4 months ago
The PM has got his head in the sand. These rascals selected Bahamas rather than USA because they were confident that it was much easier to get away with this fraud in the Bahamas. This is a big hit on Bahamas financial image.
Porcupine 1 year, 4 months ago
Yup. Just like the PM going to the UN to beg for climate change money while we continue to think drilling for oil in The Bahamas is Ok. Columbo, I think you are a fraud too. Just like SBF.
tribanon 1 year, 4 months ago
POW! Right in the kisser. The drill-baby-drill oil huckster is a glutton for punishment.
Sickened 1 year, 4 months ago
The PM gone all around the globe begging for money. You don't think that SBF was on his list of people to hit up?
realfreethinker 1 year, 4 months ago
yep
TalRussell 1 year, 4 months ago
Well, yes. Hard to tell the Pirate from the Privateer, has they papers?
As an analyser of truths-unverifiable, I'm ready to confirm with much certainty that SBF, too, has been fixed right with his legal papers, — Yes?
tribanon 1 year, 4 months ago
U.S. intelligence agencies are carefully monitoring all communications between the Wicked Witch of The West resident in The Bahamas and that other Wicked Witch of The West resident in California, among others.
killemwitdakno 1 year, 4 months ago
Quiz
Which vegan place cost $5000?
How much is missing? $1B or $10B and how much is in the gov't safe? Was there extravagance before the Bahamas?
What's hacked? The coins or real money? If we care about the coins being hacked then the payments in FTT were also real money. Where's the loss if clients paid for coins and received coins? Are they simply upset at devaluation?
What could Binance earn from selling the FTT that it gained?
What's Sam's complaint against regulators (Bahamian)? Why does he think withdrawals could've began in a month? What happened Nov. 5th that made him confident that withdrawals could be fulfilled?
What happened to his personal $26B? The wallet had $32B but he personally had $26B in the 5 yrs?
Did clients know in their agreements that there was a hedge fund? ( Bc then they agree to their funds being invested by FTXs discretion)
When was FTX intl started? Was Alameda the only way for internationals to invest before FTX international? Alameda couldn't be started without a bank right?
He doesn't know who kept dipping through the back door to Alameda?
Did he sell FTX US as well? Which creditors have more in FTX? US or international?
How much was actually spent acquiring other companies in rescues?
Did the customers of the competitor companies rescued still have their funds?
What kinds of creditors did Alameda have? The rescued companies? Was the $10B even crypto creditors to begin with?
Was any creditors funds moved provide tax avoidance for investors?
Was this transfer being proactive against Luna's fallout? Why was this not done internally via the FTX platforms lending feature? The customers are essentially accusing him of the same thing that they are allowed to do via his platform.
Did the BEPS regulations take too much money and focus? Why did Sam initially mention regulators as the problem? Was KYC cumbersome?
What financing requests were invited by PLP?
Were there any blackmail threats from laid off staff?
Why'd his lawyers force him to resign and quit? Sounds like they're the ones stealing the company. Are we locally investigating for any exploitation against Sam ( being autistic) ?
Why was the new FTX buyer clueless?
As a known Democrat funder, could the date of November elections and the Coindesk article and Binance tweet have been correlating? Binance was against regulations.
What was his fallout plan? Why didn't he consider placing some restrictions on withdrawals or updating his terms before November at the first sign of not being liquid?
If paused withdrawals when too much was happening too fast like Blockfi or Blackstone, would FTX still be bankrupt?
If Island luck used spinner deposits to pay clint Watson at Eyewitness News or fund a show, would DOJ come bc the owner is an international entity? (Obviously no bc the bulk of creditors are not american.) Has such ever been penalized locally?
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