FTX Killed Itself When It Stole Billions

Binance has been at the center of attention in the crypto industry following the collapse of its competitor FTX. The company’s CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, took to Twitter to finally clear the air around the events and consequences of its competitor’s demise. 

In early November, an article exposed FTX’s balance sheet and showed its susceptibility to going bankrupt if its native token, FTT, crashed. A few days later, CZ said Binance would liquidate its FTT position; the rest is history. 

FTX collapsed, the exchange lost billions of dollars in customers’ funds, and confidence in crypto was damaged. In this context, CZ and his company were seemingly the only parties that benefited. 

Binance Rejects “Savior” Role In

In his Twitter thread, CZ tried to counter the “wrong narratives” that emerged from recent events. Many of these have been pushed by mainstream media in favor of FTX’s former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). 

Forbes, The New York Times, and other prominent publications frame the collapse of FTX and SBF’s actions as a “mistake” without legal consequences. Many justify these actions based on SBF’s “effective altruism” belief. 

CZ called out Bankman-Fried as a “liar,” and this action is never done with “good intentions,” the Binance CEO said. He believes FTX and SBF were responsible for their demise by “stealing” billions of user funds. 

Addressing the two main narratives created around Binance and CZ personally, the savior and FTX’s destroyer, the executive said:

Crypto doesn’t need saving. Crypto is fine. It’s the beauty of decentralization. We are just part of it. We want to help other good projects that may be in a cash crunch because of recent events. It’s in our collective best interest.

When Did FTX Put The Final Nail On Its Coffin?

FTX was allegedly mismanaging its users’ funds since at least 2021 by giving its trading arm, Alameda Research, loans back by the FTT token. Thus, the company would probably fail if the crypto market continued to follow its downside trajectory. 

However, CZ believes the final strike on its competitor came from Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison. When CZ said Binance would liquidate their FTT, Ellison offered to buy them out for $22. This statement tipped the market on Alameda and FTX’s floor price. 

Later, market participants pushed the token’s price below these levels triggering the chain of reaction that led to FTX’s implosion. CZ added:

SBF perpetuated a narrative painting me and other people as the “bad guys”. It was critical in maintaining the fantasy that he was a “hero.” SBF is one of the greatest fraudsters in history, he is also a master manipulator when it comes to media and key opinion leaders.