The cryptocurrency trading platform FTX started this Friday bankruptcy proceedings in the United States which also led to the resignation of its owner, the young billionaire Sam Bankman Friedthe same one who was going to donate all his fortune.
The decision confirms the total collapse of this platformone of the most important in the industry, which It was valued at $ 32 billion. and that in recent days it has depreciated in particular due to lack of liquidity and with users rushing to withdraw their funds.
In a statement, FTX assured that filing for bankruptcy is the right fit to manage the company’s assets and protect the interests of its shareholders.
The process will affect some 130 affiliated companiesincluding its investment firm Alameda Research, but not its affiliates Ledgerx.LLC, FTX Digital Markets, LTD, FTX Australia and FTX Express Pay.
The company announced that the position of chief executive officer will be taken on by John J. Ray III, a lawyer who ran the controversial energy company Enron through its historic collapse in the early 2000s.
For their part, Bankman-Fried and several of the company’s employees will continue to work to assist the new CEO and independent professionals during the bankruptcy proceedings.
The FTX Failure: What Happened
The move was announced hours after authorities in the Bahamas, where FTX is based, freeze the group’s assets and take the first steps to appoint a liquidator of one of their entities.
FTX landed in the Bahamas in 2021 from Hong Kong, where it began operations and established itself as one of the most successful platforms in the cryptocurrency industry.
In recent days, doubts about the company’s solvency have been triggered by various information, such as has led many users to rush to withdraw their moneyleaving FTX cashless and looking for a bailout.
The FTX situation got even more complicated on Wednesday when Binance – the world’s leading currency exchange platform – has announced it withdrew the purchase offer which he had announced the day before, when he had offered to come to support his rival.
“Our intention was originally to support FTX clients in their quest for liquidity, but the matter is beyond our control and our ability to help,” Binance said in a statement.
They added: “In recent years we have seen the cryptocurrency ecosystem become more resilient and we believe that over time, the free market will eliminate companies that abuse funds of users “.
The move caused a new collapse of the TTFFTX’s digital asset, and steep declines across the entire cryptocurrency market, just a year after bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, hit its all-time high.
Finally, this Thursday Bankman-Fried apologized and admitted making mistakes in calculating the necessary liquidity levels, as well as in explaining the situation of the platform once the crisis has erupted.
The 30-year-old billionaire then said he was doing everything he could to get liquidity and avoid a bankruptcy that finally materialized this Friday, with a financial hole estimated at around 8,000 million dollars.
In the meantime, numerous details have emerged about the operation of the platform, including the fact that FTX has used billions of dollars deposited by its customers to finance risky investments.
FTX, a source told the Wall Street Journal, has lent the money to its investment firm, Alameda Research, which has used it in aggressive operations and now owes the platform about $ 10 billion.
With information from EFE.
SL
Source: Clarin
