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☆ FTX's former US president is reportedly raising money for a new crypto startup after the crypto exchange's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Brett Harrison, FTX US's former president, is reportedly raising money for a new crypto startup. Harrison left FTX just weeks before it slid into bankruptcy amid allegations of misused customer funds. Harrison's attempt to raise money comes when many investors are weary of wading deeper into the crypto industry. Before working at FTX, Harrison worked at traditional trading firms, including Jane Street, where he once worked with Bankman-Fried, according to the report. Harrison's attempt to raise money for a crypto startup comes when many prominent investors have grown weary of wading deeper into the industry.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried Chucks the Crisis Communications Playbook
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Nat Ives | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The interviews could be a case study in what not to do in a crisis, some communications executives said. “He’s basically breaking every rule that somebody in the crisis communications field would advise,” said Andrew Gilman, president and chief executive at CommCore Consulting Group, a public relations and communications firm. Asked at the DealBook conference whether his lawyers thought it was wise for him to be speaking, Mr. Bankman-Fried said no. If Mr. Bankman-Fried is determined to say something now, Mr. Gilman said he would have advised putting a statement online and declining to take questions yet. But Mr. Sitrick said he couldn’t fully gauge the results of the mini-media tour because he didn’t know Mr. Bankman-Fried’s goals.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research shielded FTX from a loss of up to $1 billion after a customer trade blew up a year before the exchange collapsed, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alameda Research in 2021 stepped in to shelter FTX from a loss of up to $1 billion, the FT reported Friday. An FTX client's leveraged bet on a little-known token tore through buffers aimed at shielding FTX from losses. The April 2021 incident highlights the deep ties between Sam Bankman-Fried's companies. The April 2021 incident took place more than a year before FTX collapsed last month following a run on the exchange. The ties between the exchange and the hedge fund are at the center of the implosion of FTX, with allegations that FTX had lent customer funds to Alameda for trading.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried said it's 'not who I am' to shun the press. But legal experts say his recent interviews could come back to haunt him.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In new media appearances, Sam Bankman-Fried openly mused about his culpability in FTX's crash. Bankman-Fried told Sorkin at one point that "I didn't knowingly commingle funds," between FTX and his other company, the hedge fund Alameda Research. "Like, I wasn't spending any time or effort trying to manage risk on FTX," he told the "Good Morning America" anchor. Greg Joseph and Stanford Law professor David Mills, who Semafor reported last month represent Bankman-Fried, didn't respond to Insider's email for comment Thursday evening. Representatives for FTX did not respond to a request for comment, and Bankman-Fried did not respond to a Twitter DM seeking comment.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried says figuring out how to pay his lawyers is a 'concern' after his fortune fell to 'close to nothing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried says he's "trying to figure out" how to pay his lawyers, calling it a "concern." After FTX collapsed, Bankman-Fried's fortune plummeted from around $16 billion to "close to nothing." After FTX collapsed in November, Bankman-Fried's fortune plummeted from $16 billion to $1 billion, with Bloomberg putting the value of both FTX and sister company Alameda at just $1. When asked by Chet Long, chief security officer at International Blockchain Consulting, how he was paying his lawyers, Bankman-Fried said: "That's something I'm trying to figure out right now." In response to a question about whether he had the lawyers on retainer, Bankman-Fried said: "I can't go into the details."

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried says he 'misaccounted' $8 billion after FTX customers wired money to hedge fund Alameda and the cash was counted twice
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried showed a Bloomberg reporter a spreadsheet of company finances. The former billionaire – who now says he's down to his last $100,000 – showed Bloomberg's Zeke Faux a spreadsheet of FTX and Alameda's accounts. When the Bloomberg reporter asked Bankman-Fried if he had "misplaced $8 billion," the FTX founder replied: "Misaccounted." Then, FTX's internal accounting system counted this money twice by crediting it to both companies. Ray, who also handled Enron's bankruptcy, said FTX is full of "inexperienced" executives and demonstrates a "complete failure of corporate controls."

☆ The US Justice Department wants the fraud allegations against FTX to be investigated
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US Justice Department is pushing for an independent examiner to look into allegations of fraud against FTX. Authorities were already investigating FTX, and are now seeking a probe of alleged wrongdoing that led to its crash. But ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has tried to deflect those accusations, stating he "didn't ever try to commit fraud on anyone." The Justice Department and US regulators were already probing Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire before FTX filed for bankruptcy November 11. But Bankman-Fried has tried to deflect allegations of fraud, saying he wasn't aware of what was going on at his companies.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried says he paid so little attention to expenses that he didn't realize he was spending too much, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried claims he paid little attention to his company expenses, per Bloomberg. The FTX co-founder told Bloomberg he didn't realize he was spending more than he was taking in. When demonstrating the company's biggest cashflows to the Bloomberg journalist, Bankman-Fried listed $250 million in expenses for real estate and $1 billion for "fuckups." According to court documents filed by FTX's newly appointed CEO John J. Ray III, the company didn't have a formal accounting department. Company expenses, which reportedly included a $200 daily allowance for food delivery, were approved by emojis on online chats, according to a bankruptcy filing.

☆ Crypto meltdown a boon for bankruptcy lawyers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Andrew Goudsward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

“You’ve got to pay the gravedigger,” said Adam Levitin, a law professor at Georgetown University who specializes in bankruptcy law. Law firm billing rates are normally not public, but in bankruptcy cases lawyers for the debtor company must detail their billings and request a judge's approval for their fees. The lawyers are paid from the assets of a bankruptcy estate, and experts said judges rarely demand significant reductions in professional fees. Lawyers in the crypto cases must deal with a host of issues new to bankruptcy law, including whether digital assets deposited on a platform are owned by the customer or the platform itself, according to bankruptcy law experts. Levitin, a former member of the restructuring department at law firm Weil, Gotshal, & Manges, said such complex questions call for top-shelf lawyers.

☆ US stocks finish mixed amid fears of more Fed hawkishness after hot jobs report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Dow reversed higher as the Fed is still largely expected to slow its pace of rate hikes. But the hot jobs data could push the Fed to tack on more rate hikes in early 2023, some analysts say. JPMorgan Asset Management chief strategist David Kelly said the jobs report was likely distorted, and there's still plenty of room for the Fed to taper rate hikes and pause in 2023. Principal Asset Management chief strategist Seema Shah said the jobs report could push the Fed to raise rates above 5%. "This report doesn't mean the risks of the Fed raising rates to 6% are back on the table.

☆ FTX customers could get their money back in Japan, where the local unit is working on unfreezing withdrawals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX users could get their money back in Japan, where the local unit is working on unfreezing withdrawals. The now-bankrupt crypto exchange faces questions about use of the funds, with $2 billion reportedly missing. FTX Japan said Thursday a plan to restart withdrawals has been approved by its new trading management team, but with added safeguards. "Development work for this plan has already started, and our engineering teams are working to allow FTX Japan users to withdraw their fund," it said in an announcement online. FTX users have been trying to withdraw their funds from the crypto exchange ever since it filed for bankruptcy on November 11.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Wasn’t Even Trying’ to Manage Risk at FTX, He Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

“I wasn’t even trying, like, I wasn’t spending any time or effort trying to manage risk on FTX,” Mr. Bankman-Fried said in an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News that was broadcast Thursday on “Good Morning America.”“I don’t know what to say,” he said. A lawyer for Mr. Bankman-Fried didn’t respond to a request for comment. Risk issues weren’t seen as a “core business driver” at FTX, Mr. Bankman-Fried said in Thursday’s interview, adding that he did a “pretty incomplete job” at oversight. Mr. Stephanopoulos questioned Mr. Bankman-Fried about speculation that he might ultimately spend time in prison in connection with the problems at FTX and Alameda. Mr. Bankman-Fried said that a lot of things worry him right now, but that he would let regulatory and legal processes play out.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried didn't mention Alameda ex-CEO Caroline Ellison in his first video interview since FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sam Bankman-Fried didn't mention Caroline Ellison by name during an interview with The New York Times. Ellison was formerly CEO of Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, Alameda Research. The former FTX CEO denied allegations that he knowingly committed fraud with Alameda Research. "I didn't knowingly conmingle funds," Bankman-Fried said during the interview. During an interview with New York Magazine, Bankman-Fried said he didn't know what was happening at Alameda over the last year.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried apologized to an FTX customer who said he lost his life savings of $2 million, and accused the former CEO of stealing it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An FTX user wrote to the host interviewing Sam Bankman-Fried at a New York Times summit. He said he lost $2 million and accused SBF of stealing it. Andrew Ross Sorkin – the journalist hosting the summit – shared the email "from a gentleman who said he lost his life savings." It had the subject line: "Sam Bankman-Fried stole $2 million from me." The user wrote: "Andrew, can you please ask SBF why he decided to steal my life savings and the $10 billion more from customers to give to his hedge fund, Alameda?"

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried said that if he'd spent 'an hour a day' thinking about risk management FTX might not have collapsed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried said FTX might not have collapsed if he'd spent "an hour a day" assessing risks. "I wasn't spending any time or effort trying to manage risk on FTX," the crypto mogul told ABC News. "There is something maybe even deeply wrong there, which was I wasn't even trying," the crypto mogul said. "Like, I wasn't spending any time or effort trying to manage risk on FTX and that 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 added.

☆ Factbox: Crypto companies crash into bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The price of bitcoin has dropped 65% since the start of the year, the cryptocurrency Luna suffered a total collapse in value, and crypto exchange FTX went from buying Super Bowl ads to crash landing into bankruptcy. Here are the major crypto companies that have gone bankrupt in 2022. BLOCKFICrypto lender BlockFi was the first crypto company to follow FTX into bankruptcy, filing for Chapter 11 about two weeks after FTX's collapse. The proposed sale fell through following FTX's implosion, and Voyager reopened discussions with other potential buyers, including the crypto exchange Binance. Celsius' bankruptcy judge has appointed an examiner to investigate whether Celsius operated as a Ponzi scheme and to broadly review the company's finances.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's defense that he 'didn't know exactly what was going on' isn't a defense for leaders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The FTX founder said he "didn't know exactly what was going on." His defense isn't acceptable for leaders who should know the inner workings of their companies. "I didn't know exactly what was going on," Bankman-Fried, 30, told the Times on November 30. Bankman-Fried's defense isn't acceptable for business leaders who should know the inner workings of their companies. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images'I didn't know' was his only defenseSorkin started his interview by noting there are two views of what occurred at FTX.

☆ FTX ex-CEO Bankman-Fried says he did not know of improper use of customer funds -ABC News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried said there was a borrowing-lending facility at the cryptocurrency exchange but he did not know of deposits being used to pay its affiliated trading firm Alameda Research, he told ABC News in an interview aired on Thursday. Asked if he knew whether funds were being funneled to Alamed, FTX's former chief executive officer told ABC: "I did not know that there is any improper use of customer funds." (This story has been corrected to fix headline to say "not", not "now")Reporting by Susan HeaveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The rise and fall of FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, who became a crypto billionaire in just 4 years before losing most of his wealth in a day and resigning from his beleaguered company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | Sarah Jackson | Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried catapulted into a crypto billionaire, but it took just one day for most of his fortune to be wiped out. The co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and Alameda Research saw his net worth plummet from nearly $16 billion to $1 billion. He had a cryptocurrency exchange called FTX, a trading firm called Alameda Research, and $15.6 billion to his name, according to estimates from Bloomberg. On November 11, FTX announced Bankman-Fried was resigning as CEO and would be replaced by John J. Ray III. In addition, FTX, Alameda Research, and roughly 130 affiliated companies have begun Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried called his Stanford Law professor parents when FTX was collapsing: 'Hey guys, there might be a problem'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy this month. He continues to receive support from his parents who are longtime Stanford Law professors. "Hey guys there might be a problem," Bankman-Fried recalled during a live virtual interview on Wednesday at The New York Times' DealBook Summit. "But anyone who was close to me, including my parents, including employees, co-workers, who fought with the company to push forward, were hurt by this and bore no responsibility for that." His mother, Barbara Fried, has been a Stanford Law professor since 1987, specializing in tax policy, property theory, and political theory, according to her university profile page.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried says FTX had 'no wild parties' and most people didn't even drink alcohol, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried said FTX had "no wild parties," at the New York Times' DealBook Summit. He said people would play board games at his parties and barely consumed any alcohol. He told reporter Andrew Sorkin that he only drank half a glass of alcohol a year. "There were no wild parties here," Bankman-Fried said. He clarified that he "didn't see any illegal drug use" in the office and that his parties were just "having people over for dinner."

☆ Mark Cuban: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried should be ‘afraid of going to jail’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Billionaire Mark Cuban isn't giving up on crypto, despite the implosion of FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. However, Cuban says former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried should be "afraid of gong to jail for a long time," in an interview with TMZ. Alameda research, the trading firm founded by Bankman-Fried, was borrowing billions of dollars from FTX users' accounts and trading those funds without their knowledge, CNBC reports. FTX and Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It's requests for comment. Don't miss: FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried lost billions and the company filed for bankruptcy—it could signal the ‘demise’ of crypto, expert says

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried said he doesn't think he's criminally liable for FTX's implosion, but that his lawyers don't want him speaking publicly
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried said he doesn't think he is criminally liable for FTX's collapse. Bankman-Fried has remained in the Bahamas but said he has "thought about" returning to the US. Speaking to journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times Dealbook conference on Wednesday, Bankman-Fried said, "I don't personally think that," when asked whether he was concerned he would be held criminally liable for FTX's implosion. There's going to be a time and place for me to think about myself and my own future, but I don't think this is it," he said. Don't say anything; recede into a hole," he said.

BlockFi users must still account for gains and/or losses on their 2022 taxes, but there are ways to reduce your tax bill. The crypto lender says it's requesting approval from the Court to restore withdrawal activities for those with BlockFi Wallet accounts. BlockFi also asked users not to submit any deposits to the BlockFi Wallet or its interest accounts. Georgia Quinn, General Counsel of Anchorage Digital, believes coverage for crypto users could be stronger. In addition, users are typically last to receive payouts in the event of crypto bankruptcy, since companies settle debts with creditors first.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried just explained what happened at FTX: Everything to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While the world's most powerful finance official took the lunchtime billing, it was Sam Bankman-Fried who held the primetime slot. Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX CEO, at a digital assets hearing in 2021. Within minutes of starting, Sorkin asked Bankman-Fried directly if there was a commingling of funds between the two now-bankrupt companies he founded, FTX and Alameda Research. When Sorkin asked whether Bankman-Fried feels he has any criminal liability, Bankman-Fried said that's not what he's focused on right now. Earnings on deck: Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal, and Dollar General Corporation, all reporting.

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