This is the most spectacular destruction of wealth ever seen.
In less than a week, Sam Bankman-Fried went from one of the world’s richest men to an average Joe.
Blame it on the collapse of his crypto empire, which consisted primarily of FTX, an exchange where you can buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. He also owns Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading platform, and has invested in other crypto businesses, including the popular trading app Robinhood.
But all this is now of little value. FTX and Alameda go bankrupt. Their various assets were seized and their license to operate was revoked by regulators. Bankman-Fried resigned on Nov. 11 after FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
However, it is unclear whether he will be able to find anyone who wants to get involved with the company suspected of fraud.
This is your guide to understanding this unprecedented crisis.
abandoned by the cryptosphere
It all started with a Nov. 2 news story suggesting that Alameda and FTX were not in as good a financial position as their bosses had previously assured. Four days later, Bankman-Fried rival Changpeng Zhao announced that his company, Binance, would sell his FTX-issued cryptocurrency, FTT, for his $500 million equivalent.
This caused panic. Other investors have rushed to acquire cryptocurrencies from FTX. About $5 billion will be withdrawn from the platform on November 6th.
Yet the next day, Bankman-Fried declared that his business was “going well.” Except that, 24 hours later, Cho announced that he had reached an agreement with Bankman Freed to purchase his empire.
“This afternoon, FTX asked for our help. Liquidity is severely lacking. To protect our users, we have signed a non-binding LOI and will be signing up at http://FTX. com to cover the liquidity shortage,” Zhao wrote. November 8th.
However, the transaction was pending due diligence. Opening the books on November 9, Zhao and Binance decided to abandon the transaction. The difficulty of FTX was more serious than expected.
Binance “will not pursue a potential acquisition of http://FTX.com as a result of corporate due diligence, as well as recent news reports regarding alleged mishandling of customer funds and investigations by US government agencies.” I have decided,” he said. Message posted on Twitter on Nov. 9.
“Initially, we hoped to be able to help FTX customers provide liquidity, but the issue is beyond our control and ability to help.”
zero
Since then it has been routed.
As a result, the entire fortune of Bankman-Fried, known in the cryptocurrency industry by the initials of SBF, was wiped out. Bloomberg his billionaire index thinks he’s lost it all.
To reach this conclusion, Bloomberg says that Alameda, which SBF announced its closure, is no longer worth anything. Same Applicant of FTX International. As for his FTX US, in which SBF held 70% of his stake, its value is now only $1. Platform is shutting down. FTX US asked clients to close their positions on November 10th.
In the Bahamas, where SBF lives and where FTX.com is based, authorities have frozen assets.
This will give SBF a 7.6% stake in Robinhood. (hood) – Get Free Report, which was valued at $589 million at last check. However, Reuters reported that the shares were used as collateral for a loan through Alameda Research.
With Alameda’s closure, this participation is no longer worth anything either. So Bankman-Fried has nothing left. He lost his nearly $16 billion fortune in less than a week.
The consequences of this brutal and spectacular collapse will resonate for a long time with the cryptocurrency industry wanting to disrupt traditional financial services.
