Sam Bankman-Fried Tells Congress He Nominated New FTX CEO Under Pressure From Lawyers
By Benzinga
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was under pressure to nominate a new CEO in early November, according to his draft testimony.
What Happened: The testimony, seen by Reuters, states that Bankman-Fried nominated John Ray as CEO under pressure by lawyers Sullivan and Cromwell as FTX (CRYPTO: FTT) unraveled in early November.
Just minutes after he agreed, Bankman-Fried said he received a “potential funding offer for billions of dollars to help make customers whole.”
However, the FTX founder was told that it was too late to undo Ray’s elevation.
See Also: Is Bitcoin (BTC) A Good Investment In 2022?
Why It Matters: Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after local authorities received formal notification from the United States.
In his testimony, Bankman-Fried says he “deeply regrets” giving into pressure that led to Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for FTX, according to Reuters.
The former FTX CEO reportedly said he was concerned that the company’s U.S. team gave misleading information to the Chapter 11 team.
Bankman-Fried denied claims that he manipulated the price of Tether (USDT) and labeled them “categorically false.”
FTX, FTX US, and Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11. It was reported at the time that Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun said he was prepared to pump billions into FTX.
The price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) crashed as news of FTX's implosion trickled in.
Photo: Courtesy of Bybit on Flickr.
