“I fucked up, and should have done better.” FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried couldn’t have been plainer in a lengthy Twitter thread posted on Thursday afternoon.
The crestfallen 30-year-old crypto mogul seemed sincere in his regret for the crisis that rocked the crypto markets following the collapse of the crypto exchange he founded in 2019.
“The full story here is one I'm still fleshing out every detail of, but at a very high level, I fucked up twice,” he admitted.
His first mistake was thinking users’ margins were “way lower” than they were; small relief for the customers whose funds he was evidently gambling on.
SBF apologised for not communicating enough, for going silent while his empire crumbled around him.
8) And so we are where we are. Which sucks, and that's on me.But the damage is likely going to be felt for a long time, especially for the customers whose assets are now trapped in the maws of FTX following a brutal bank run after the discovery that risky bets were being placed with their assets.I'm sorry.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 10, 2022
The founder and one-time entrepreneur said he was on the hunt for a bailout while conceding that “I can't make any promises about that. But I'm going to try. And give anything I have to if that will make it work.”
He admitted defeat at the hands of arch nemesis Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the head of competitor Binance who agreed, then reneged, on a deal to rescue FTX.
But there also seemed to be an edge of malice to his concession speech.
“At some point I might have more to say about a particular sparring partner, so to speak. But you know, glass houses. So for now, all I'll say is: well played; you won.”
He undoubtedly has a very, very large bone to pick with so-called ‘sparring partner’ CZ, who ruthlessly caused the collapse in value of FTX’s FTT token and by virtue, FTX.
As for Alameda Research, his one leading venture capital fund that turned out to be built on a foundation of illiquid tokens that HE minted, it's doors will be shutting for good.
SBF did, however, leave the window of possibility open for the future of FTX, though with a reputation as damaged as his, no one should be holding their breath.