Sam Bankman-Fried Addresses $8 Billion Balance Sheet Deficit, The Key Takeaway

The entire crypto market bled with multiple losses and asset devaluation after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX. In addition, crypto firms exposed to FTX got a fair share of the bitter pill. Investigations have been ongoing to determine the location of the $8 billion hole in FTX’s balance sheet, which caused the liquidity crunch. The deficit in FTX’s balance sheet kept growing. The firm initially declared only $2 billion and later said it was $5 billion. The hole has now grown to over $8 billion. In a recent Bloomberg interview, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), FTX former CEO, revealed the whereabouts of the funds. SBF said he showed investors a separate balance sheet at an emergency bailout. According to the , SBF listed $8.9 billion in debt, $9 billion in liquid assets, and $15.4 billion in less liquid assets. The report also mentioned $3.2 billion in illiquid assets.

Sam Bankman-Fried Reveals Conflicting Balance Sheets

He revealed another balance sheet showing the actual situation at the time of the bailout meeting. The balance sheet bears similar numbers but $8 billion less liquid assets. SBF said he misquoted the numbers. He added that customers were transferring money to Alameda Research instead of sending it directly to FTX. According to his statement, FTX’s internal audit system double-counted the amount and credited it to both firms. Following SBF’s statement, FTX and Alameda Research had the highest cash flow, but Binance, a rival, became the highest expense. He paid a net amount of $2.5 billion to buy out Binance’s investments. SBF also revealed that he spent $250 million on real estate and about $1.5 billion on other expenses. Some $4 billion and $1.5 billion went into venture capital investments to acquire other firms, while they counted $1 billion by mistake. The report also stated that SBF and the remaining employees spent the previous weekend attempting to raise funds. The funds are to fill the $8 billion hole in FTX’s balance sheet and repay customers.

Cause of FTX Collapse: Fraud Or Mismanagement?

Meanwhile, most people in the crypto space say the FTX crisis is a fraud and not an accident. On Wednesday, during his first public appearance after the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried that he did not commit fraud. He claimed that he was unaware of the extent of damage and what was going on with FTX. In an interview with The New York Times, SBF blamed the collapse of the $32 billion FTX exchange on poor accounting and management failures. This comment triggered civil and criminal investigations. The investigation aims to determine whether FTX committed a crime by lending customers’ funds to Alameda Research.

However, FTX’s new CEO, John Ray III, in charge of the firm’s bankruptcy proceeding, expressed disgust at the situation. In his words, Ray said he had never seen such a complete failure of corporate control, condemning SBF for unacceptable management practices.

Featured image from Texas Tribune, chart from TradingView.com