Sam Bankman-Fried news-Page 28
Sam Bankman-Fried sheds light on how FTX would approach a Celsius bid
FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have shared details on how his firm would approach a buy-up of Celsius’ tassets. The comments come in light of FTX US snapping up bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital’s assets for $1.3 billion via auction last week and a recent report that FTX was considering a bid for Celsius’ assets as well. Responding to a tweet from BnkToTheFuture founder Simon Dixon alleging FTX was "raising finance at a $32Billion valuation" in order to buy Celsius' assets at "cents on the dollar," Bankman-Fried clarified that his firm's bid is determined at "fair market price, no …
Business / Oct. 3, 2022
Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly intended to join the Twitter deal in March
Not only Elon Musk thought of buying Twitter — crypto billionaire and CEO of FTX exchange Sam Bankman-Fried “was interested” in acquiring the social network back in March 2022, according to a report from Business Insider. In the piece, published on Sept. 29, journalists are referring to the private texts released amid the court battle between Musk and Twitter, which had been unwinding after the businessman had suspended the acquisition negotiations in July. According to the report, in March, a philosopher and Bankman-Fried’s close advisor Will MacAskill texted Musk and mentioned the possibility of a joint effort to buy the …
Business / Sept. 30, 2022
FTX reportedly considers bailing out Celsius via asset bid
Crypto exchange FTX, led by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), is reportedly considering bailing out Celsius Network by bidding on the bankrupt lender’s assets. Coincidently, the information came out the same day Alex Mashinsky resigned as the CEO of Celsius. “I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction, and I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing,” said Mashinsky while explaining his decision. For FTX, acquiring the assets of Celsius would imply the exchange’s intent to save the lending firm, similar to what FTX US did for Voyager …
Business / Sept. 28, 2022
Brett Harrison will step down as FTX US president, move into advisory role
The president of cryptocurrency exchange FTX US, Brett Harrison, has announced he will be transitioning into an advisory role in the next few months. In a Tuesday announcement on Twitter, Harrison said he will be resigning his position as FTX US president but remain with the exchange “with the goal of removing technological barriers to full participation in and maturation of global crypto markets, both centralized and decentralized.” Harrison had worked as FTX US president since May 2021 following a job at Citadel Securities. “I can’t wait to share more about what I’m doing next,” said Harrison. “Until then, I’ll …
United States / Sept. 27, 2022
FTX in talks with investors to raise $1B for further acquisitions — Reports
Sam-Bankman Fried’s crypto exchange FTX is reportedly engaged in talks with investors to raise $1 billion in new funding, as it looks to utilize extra capital for financial acquisitions during the bear market. According to a Sept. 21 report from CNBC which cites sources close to the matter, the talks are still ongoing and the details could still be subject to change. If found to be true, the funding amount would keep the FTX’s current valuation of roughly $32 billion intact. The potential $1 billion funding round would add to the $400 million FTX raised in January, and could signal …
Blockchain / Sept. 22, 2022
Alameda Research ‘happy to return’ $200M loan to Voyager Digital
Quantitative trading company Alameda Research will return an estimate of $200 million to Voyager Digital, which is proceeding through bankruptcy. Alameda borrowed the funds in cryptocurrencies in September 2021. At that time, the sum was close to $380 million. Per a recent filing in the Bankruptcy Court of Southern District of New York, the parties have reached an agreement, and Alameda will return around 6,553 Bitcoin (BTC) and 51,000 Ether (ETH) by Sept. 30. In its corporate Twitter account Alameda confirmed its readiness to return the funds: happy to return the Voyager loan and get our collateral back whenever works …
Bitcoin / Sept. 20, 2022
FTX, Bybit among the first exchanges to launch spot ETHW trading
Major cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX and Bybit, are among the first crypto trading platforms to launch spot trading for Ethereum proof-of-work (PoW) tokens. While the Ethereum blockchain has not forked into two separate networks just yet, crypto exchanges are rushing to start trading of the EthereumPoW (ETHW) tokens. At the time of writing, ETHW Fork IOU token is now trading on five exchanges, including the global FTX exchange, the FTX US platform, Bybit, Gate.io and MEXC Global, according to data from CoinGecko. According to the data, FTX is handling more than 80% of ETHW trading, which is estimated to amount to …
Blockchain / Sept. 15, 2022
Sam Bankman-Fried denies report FTX plans to purchase stake in Huobi
Global crypto exchange FTX will not be acquiring a majority stake in Huobi, according to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Or SBF. In a Monday tweet, SBF explicitly denied a Bloomberg report that claimed FTX was planning to purchase crypto exchange Huobi. Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 12 that Huobi co-founder Leon Li was considering selling his majority stake, valued at more than $1 billion, in the company. “We are not planning to acquire Huobi,” said SBF. Just to be explicit because apparently a lot of people are saying this: No, we are not planning to acquire Huobi. — SBF (@SBF_FTX) August 29, …
Business / Aug. 29, 2022
Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco resigns, Caroline Ellison will become sole head
Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco announced his resignation Wednesday on Twitter. Trabucco said co-CEO Caroline Ellison will become CEO, and he will remain in the capacity of adviser. Alameda Research is the quantitative trading company set up by FTX crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried in 2017. In a long thread titled “On Happiness,” Hong Kong-based Trabucco said his appointment as co-CEO of Alameda Research last year “was to bring titles in line with reality,” and his resignation had the same goal. Trabucco and Ellison succeeded Bankman-Fried as heads of the company. On happiness: — Sam Trabucco (@AlamedaTrabucco) August 24, 2022 …
Business / Aug. 24, 2022
Binance vs. FTX: CZ calls out ‘bad players’ for crypto exchange jitters
The CEO of crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, raised concern for traders after learning about the infamous phenomenon of trade jitters on other crypto exchanges. Jitters in crypto trading relate to a trade event wherein an investor’s buy or sell order gets stuck and moves down in the list, allowing newer trade orders to go through. Just learned a new word, jitters. On 1 particular exchange, sometimes your orders will be stuck for a bit, and a few other orders will get in front of you. Apparently, this happens often enough on this exchange that the traders coined a …
Adoption / Aug. 20, 2022
Huobi co-founder reportedly looks to sell majority stake valued at over $1B
Leon Li, the co-founder of global crypto exchange Huobi, is reportedly in talks to sell the majority of his stake in the company that could be valued at over $1 billion. Li reportedly had discussions with multiple financiers seeking to offload a 60% stake in the crypto company, which could be valued at over $1 billion and some believe could fetch as high as $3 billion, reported Bloomberg. A Huobi spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that the co-founder is engaging with numerous international giants to sell his majority share in the crypto exchange, without disclosing details. Li reportedly informed about his …
Business / Aug. 12, 2022
Voyager Digital reportedly had deep ties with SBF-owned Alameda Research
Voyager Digital, the crypto lending firm that went bust due to the crypto contagion initiated by Three Arrow Capital’s (3AC) insolvency is currently fighting its bankruptcy court battle. The court proceedings and financial documents have shown a deep relation between the crypto lending firm and Sam Bankman Fried-owned Alameda Research. Alameda is a quantitative trading firm that was also one of many borrowers from Voyager and reportedly owed $370 million. However, within weeks of 3AC's downfall, Alameda moved from a borrower to a lender and offered a $500 million bailout in late June. SBF took to Twitter to give insights …
Regulation / Aug. 10, 2022