SBF, Ellison Thought Bitcoin Would’ve Crashed More As FTX Caved

Within the FTX saga’s earliest days, disgraced co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was really stunned it hadn’t impacted bitcoin extra.

A criticism filed by the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) on Wednesday presents a glimpse into messages shared between insiders because the platform collapsed final month.

The CFTC states that “on the night of Nov. 6, as they monitored and reacted to the actions in FTT costs and the contagion results on the digital asset market extra broadly,” an unnamed Alameda govt stated:

“I’m stunned BTC isn’t down extra,” to which former Alameda Analysis CEO Caroline Ellison responded: “me too.”

Bankman-Fried chimed in: “yea me 3 [sic].”

Whereas bitcoin solely faltered 2% across the time of these messages, greater than $230 billion was ultimately wiped from collective crypto market values within the following days, a 20% discount.

Bitcoin itself misplaced greater than $100 billion from its market cap within the week main as much as FTX submitting for chapter. BTC tanked as much as 25%, from $21,300 to beneath $16,000 at its worst on Nov. 10.

The native change token of FTX, FTT, was nevertheless fully obliterated, sinking greater than 90% in underneath three days. Alameda Analysis was reported to have outsized publicity to FTT (and equally illiquid tokens) on its steadiness sheets within the weeks main as much as FTX’s collapse.

FTT’s loss of life spiral adopted Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeting his firm would liquidate its holdings, estimated to be price greater than $500 million on the time, to cut back threat related to FTX.

“Right now, bitcoin market costs, together with on US exchanges, had certainly begun to say no, seemingly as a direct or oblique results of the occasions described herein,” the CFTC stated.

Ellison, alongside former FTX and Alameda chief expertise officer Gary Wang pleaded responsible on Thursday to a number of counts of fraud and conspiracy. Each are reported to be cooperating with authorities transferring ahead, now out on bail. 

In the meantime, Bankman-Fried is anticipated to be imminently extradited to US, the place he’ll face his personal mammoth eight-count federal felony indictment.

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