Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao weighs in on the future of crypto and the much-publicized tweetstorm of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) before the exchange collapsed.
After fending off an ការវាយប្រហារ on the crypto industry by outspoken Turkish-American economist Nouriel Roubini, CZ unpacked the events just before Binance provisionally agreed to buy FTX.com.
At the Abu Dhabi Finance Week in on Nov. 16, 2022, Roubini called CZ’s presence in the UAE a “walking time bomb.”
CZ said SBF’s call was about “real trouble” at FTX
CZ said that he initially thought that SBF called him to discuss the possibility of an over-the-counter deal to buy FTT, FTX’s native token, to calm markets down.
FTX customers began withdrawing FTT after CZ tweeted on Nov. 6, 2022, that Binance would liquidate its $580 million in FTT holdings as a risk management measure. Binance received FTT after exiting its position as an equity investor in 2021 but later sold the tokens.
By Nov. 8, 2022, FTX could not process the avalanche of withdrawals and called on CZ and Binance to help.
But it quickly became clear that the company had troubles extending beyond FTT and was “looking for a buyout,” CZ said. Binance then signed a non-binding agreement to ទទួលបាន FTX but later ទាញចេញ after finding a hole in the exchange’s balance sheet.
CZ: SBF lost focus, should not have been tweeting
CZ criticized SBF for writing tweets during the company’s recent crisis, saying he should have been busy with other things.
When asked about a tweet by SBF in which he referred to a “sparring partner,” CZ said, “I think only a psychopath can write that tweet. When he tweets about a sparring partner and when his house is burning, he’s losing focus.”
Source: https://beincrypto.com/binance-ceo-changpeng-zhao-warned-sam-bankman-fried-to-own-up-before-ftx-bankruptcy/