The crypto space has been vocal in its views on the former CEO of FTX, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried’s “pre-mortem summary” of the FTX collapse, which he posted on January 12 as a letter on Substack. As Cointelegraph previously reported, SBF denied the allegations made against it in the lengthy letter, maintaining that FTX US had been “fully solvent” at the time the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with approximately $350 million in cash available.
Bankman-Fried further claimed that FTX International had a substantial amount of assets (approximately $8 billion) when John Ray became CEO. According to Bankman-Fried, “No funds were stolen. Alameda lost money due to a market downturn for which it was not adequately covered, as Three Arrows and others have done this year.”
Unfortunately for him, the crypto community didn’t seem to be convinced by SBF’s “pre-mortem overview.” Wall Street Silver shared: “There is no mention of the billions in ‘loans’ he took from clients’ money to finance his lavish lifestyle and political donations. I’m surprised that his legal team didn’t stop him speaking out.”
Fintech analyst Peruvian Bull shared: “SBF is sitting in his parents’ mansion writing side articles blaming everyone but himself for the FTX fraud. He was a genius when it came to talking to venture capitalists. Now, we are supposed to believe that he is the most incompetent chief executive ever.”
Appeals lawyer Michael Tex Duncan commented: “It appears that SBF no longer tweets their crimes, but instead has a new substack to detail them.”
Bitcoin (BTC) researcher Andrew Bailey commented: “SBF has a new Substack post full of reconstructed numbers and tables and estimates over the past few months from Alameda. They were fascinating. They are a smokescreen. Obviously.”
On Jan. 12, Cointelegraph reported that Joseph Bankman, the father of Bankman-Fried, has reportedly retained a lawyer as the criminal case against his son progresses. Bankman reportedly advised and assisted his son on matters related to lobbying lawmakers in Washington, DC and may now be cooperating with prosecutors behind the SBF case. However, it is unclear whether Bankman has any criminal or civil liability related to the FTX collapse.
The crypto community had expressed heavy disbelief following SBF’s publication of his Substack letter, with many questioning the lack of details surrounding the “loans” and calling into question the legitimacy of the evidence presented.