There's an expression in social media, "posting through it," that describes one continuing to pen tweets or other social media posts defending yourself even as controversy subsumes them. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is still posting through it, even as he awaits trial.
Most defendants keep a low profile, should they say something that prosecutors could reference in court proceedings. SBF is not most defendants. This is the same man who posted a 22-tweet-long apology thread on November 10 when the collapse of FTX came to light.
The founder of what was once the second-largest crypto exchange in the world before it collapsed took to the blogging site Substack Thursday to post “FTX Pre-Mortem Overview.”
READ: FTX administrators identify US$5bn to repay creditors of collapsed crypto exchange
In the post, Bankman-Fried claimed he did not steal money and said the demise of FTX was due to a broader cryptocurrency collapse. :
Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested in the Bahamas last month on fraud charges, with prosecutors alleging he stole billions in clients' funds to pay debts for his hedge fund, Alameda Research. He, along with his parents and senior staff, also allegedly purchased at least 19 properties in the Bahamas that totaled $121 million, according to reports.
Bankman-Fried was released later in December on a $250 million bond in and put under house arrest at his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, which was pledged as collateral for his return to court, according to reports.
His trial is scheduled for October 2. He may face an uphill climb, though, as two of his associates have already pled guilty to defrauding FTX customers and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried pinned FTX’s downfall on Alamedia’s growing balance sheet and insufficiently hedged market exposure, coupled with “an extreme, quick, targeted crash precipitated by the CEO of Binance” that made Alameda insolvent.
"As Alameda became illiquid, FTX International did as well, because Alameda had a margin position open on FTX," he said.
Bankman-Fried also claimed that FTX’s US division is fully solvent and that customers could potentially have their funds returned. He even included what he said is a copy of FTX US’s balance sheet when he turned over the company to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy team.
"If it were to reboot I believe there is a real chance that customers could be made substantially whole," Bankman-Fried said.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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