Disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Says He’s Really Sorry—Again

By Kate Irwin

Crypto CEOs love writing long Twitter threads, and disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is no exception.

Bankman-Fried published a five-part apology thread Friday morning confirming the news that he filed for bankruptcy for FTX and its affiliated companies, including all arms of FTX US.

“Today, I filed FTX, FTX US, and Alameda for voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US,” Bankman-Fried said of the bankruptcy proceedings. “I’m really sorry, again, that we ended up here.”

It’s worth noting that just days ago, Bankman-Fried wrote that FTX US users were “fine” and would not be affected by the dealings and debt of FTX’s international arm. Bankman-Fried assured FTX US users Thursday that it “was not financially impacted by this shitshow,” a statement now proven to be false. 

“This doesn't necessarily have to mean the end for the companies or their ability to provide value and funds to their customers chiefly, and can be consistent with other routes,” Bankman-Fried said in Friday’s thread. 

Bankman-Fried also used the passive voice when referring to FTX’s quick slide into insolvency, implying that he still has no idea how the company unraveled. 

“I'm piecing together all of the details, but I was shocked to see things unravel the way they did earlier this week. I will, soon, write up a more complete post on the play by play, but I want to make sure that I get it right when I do,” Bankman-Fried said.

This is the second apology thread the executive has published on Twitter this week following the news that FTX was in need of over $4 billion to cover its debts. 

In this previous, 22-part apology thread published Thursday, Bankman-Fried wrote some text in all-caps and tried to justify his actions and explain his behavior. He also even hinted that he would “have more to say” about a rival in the future.

“Well played; you won,” Bankman-Fried said Thursday, in a possible reference to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. 

The trouble began for FTX last week after Coindesk reported that a substantial portion of assets belonging to Alameda Research, another company owned and founded by Bankman-Fried, were in FTT—a token issued by FTX. The news prompted CZ to announce that Binance would be offloading its share of FTT, which it gained when it divested from FTX last year, which in turn led to a massive sell-off of FTT from traders and investors.

That sell-off crashed the price of FTT, and the loss in confidence in FTX caused a "bank run" on the exchange. And now, following its Chapter 11 filing, FTX is officially out of business.

Response to the executive’s second apology thread was immediately overwhelmingly negative, with crypto analysts like Blockware’s Joe Burnett doubting Bankman-Fried’s statement.

“How were you shocked, lol? You were CEO,” Burnett said.

Others simply wrote the word “jail” in the comments, like prominent YouTuber Callux:

ZKShark of the Solana NFT project DeGods had similar words for the executive.

“Thanks for the apology. Hands behind your back pls,” he tweeted.

FTX is actively being investigated by the Texas Securities Board, the DOJ, the SEC, the CFTC, and California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

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