First modification:
The FTX cryptocurrency platform filed for bankruptcy in the United States and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned after a turbulent week that led to the bankruptcy of one of the main cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
The FTX cryptocurrency platform announced bankruptcy after a week where fears of its impending bankruptcy plunged the cryptocurrency market.
FTX, one of the most important companies in the sector, which was valued at 32,000 million dollars, assured that the bankruptcy declaration is the appropriate measure to manage the company’s assets and protect the interests of its shareholders.
The bankruptcy will affect some 130 affiliated companies, including its investment firm Alameda Research, but not subsidiaries Ledgerx.LLC, FTX Digital Markets, LTD, FTX Australia and FTX Express Pay.
They also announced that the new CEO will be John J. Ray III, while Bankman-Fried, its founder and CEO, among many of the firm’s employees will continue to work to assist the new CEO and independent professionals during the bankruptcy process.
The announcement came only after authorities in the Bahamas, where FTX is based, froze the group’s assets and took the first steps to appoint someone to wind up one of its entities.
In recent days, doubts about the company’s solvency have skyrocketed, leading many users to massively withdraw their money, leaving FTX illiquid and in search of a bailout.
Binance, the world’s leading currency exchange, even announced that it was withdrawing the takeover offer it had announced a day earlier, when it had offered to come to its rival’s support.
“Our original intention was to support FTX clients in their search for liquidity, but the matter is beyond our control and our ability to help,” Binance said in a statement.
The move triggered another drop in FTT, FTX’s digital asset, and sent sharp falls to the entire cryptocurrency market, just a year after bitcoin hit its all-time high.
Bankman-Fried apologized and admitted that it made mistakes in calculating the levels of liquidity that were necessary. The 30-year-old billionaire assured that he was looking for liquidity and avoid a bankruptcy that finally materialized today. It is estimated that the deficit is around 8,000 million dollars.
According to a source in The Wall Street Journal, FTX lent its clients’ money to its investment firm, Alameda Research, which used it in aggressive trades and now owes the platform about $10 billion.
with EFE
