creditors

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, the billion-dollar exchange, told CNBC, he is trying to secure a deal to bail out his customers caught in the company’s catastrophic bankruptcy.

CNBC caught up with Bankman-Fried at his home in the Bahamas where FTX was headquartered. Though he declined an on-camera interview, he told the reporter he was focused on recovering customer funds and is working to secure a deal.

“I think we should be trying to get as much value to users as possible. I hate what happened and deeply wish that I had been more careful,” Bankman-Fried lamented.

Bankman-Fried also maintained that the company had “segregated balances,” in other jurisdictions including the US, adding “there are billions of dollars of potential funding opportunities out there” to restore customer monies.

Why it matters

Bankman-Fried is no longer the CEO of FTX, but stepped down after the crypto scandal. The question remains can he broker a deal because he no longer has access to the company’s systems.

Venture capital investors told CNBC that since the bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried has been calling to secure funding.

Which venture capitalist would be willing to bail out the exchange?

The big picture

FTX has a big hole in its balance sheet and owes its top 50 creditors alone, some 3.1 billion dollars.

Photo credit: Fox News

The once prominent crypto exchange FTX which is based in the Bahamas, owes 50 creditors $3.1 billion according to court documents filed Saturday in its bankruptcy proceedings.

The court ordered FTX to name its largest creditors. Reports are that the largest amount owed to a creditor is $226,280,579, while the second largest creditor is owed $203,292,504.

Why it matters

This whopping figure is another surprising revelation as more information about the management of the company unravels. It proves what new CEO John Ray told the court in earlier documents that FTX was managed poorly.

“Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here,” he said.

“From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated, and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented.”

The big picture

FTX is known as the second biggest exchange and was once valued at $32 billion, but filed for bankruptcy last week. A colossal hole was found in his balance sheet. He was allegedly removing customers’ money from FTX to fund his trading company Alameda’s Research, which is illegal in the financial market. Now, he owes billions to customers.

Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO following the controversy.