Latest news for the FTX case

Clashes between Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried; new investigations by the US Department of Justice; Sam Bankman Fried’s attempts to destabilize the market to save FTX from bankruptcy.

Here is all the latest news to emerge this week concerning the FTX case.

SBF and CZ clash over failed FTX/Binance deal

There is no end to the diatribe between Changpeng Zhao and Sam Bankman Fried, yet another discussion over the failed deal involving Binance’s acquisition of the FTX platform has ignited on Twitter. Sam Bankman Fried, recently claimed to have been threatened and pressured by Binance to acquire his company. In fact, according to SBF, Binance threatened to pull out at the last minute in the absence of an additional $75 million. The former CEO of FTX accuses Changpeng Zhao of lying about his involvement in the deal. 

The response to the accusations from the CEO of Binance was not long in coming on Twitter. In fact, CZ responds in tone to the accusations he received, calling Sam Bankman Fried an outright fraudster, and that Binance exited the deal with FTX after finding itself in uncomfortable positions derived from SBF and its companies. According to Binance’s CEO, the exchange platform now on the verge of bankruptcy was a victim of its own disengagement.

The back-and-forth does not end there, with Bankman Fried criticizing Changpeng Zhao’s public statements toward FTX.  

At the time of the deal, SBF had stated that FTX had agreed to a “strategic transaction” with CZ, but later Binance pulled out after reviewing the exchange’s financial statements.

“Sam, it doesn’t matter now. Also, you can’t force us to sell if we don’t want to. We also have veto power to block whatever other fundraising you were doing. I never used it or mentioned it. It was never a competition or a fight. Nobody won […] Don’t try to tell your friends to focus on us. Focus on yourself. You should have learned that by now.”

The response in tone from Binance’s CEO puts the debate to rest. 

A new US Department of Justice investigation into the FTX case

The US Department of Justice is investigating the CEO of FTX for transferring funds from the United States. Recently news has been circulating, revealed by an anonymous source, that a new investigation is underway. It seems that officials from the Justice Department have met with FTX’s top management to get more information to investigate the matter. 

We are now in the age where the crypto world and those involved in it are unlikely to escape justice, and as we know Sam Bankman Fried, is now in the eye of the storm. In parallel to the fraud investigation of FTX and its CEO, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly investigating a potential fraud involving SBF in transferring funds offshore just days before FTX declared bankruptcy. The federal investigation aims to examine how much SBF was involved in FTX’s improper transfer of funds to the Bahamas.

FTX’s former CEO has not yet been charged with any crime, likely related to Sam Bankman Fried’s strong ties to US politics. In addition, revelations released this weekend indicate that the CEO of The Block Michael McCaffrey secretly received more than $43 million from SBF’s Alameda Research. Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary also revealed last Thursday that he was paid $15 million to be a spokesman for FTX.

SBF’s attempt to destabilize the market to save his company

The Wall Street Journal highlighted an affair that happened the day before FTX filed for bankruptcy. Group chats were made public, revealing statements and attempts to save the now-bankrupt company. 

The Wall Street Journal editorial staff managed to get their hands on a Signal group chat, called “Exchange Coordination,” which reveals a discussion between Zhao and Bankman-Fried regarding Tether’s USDT stablecoin.

“Stop trying to drop the stablecoin peg. In fact, stop doing anything at all. Stop now, don’t cause any more damage.”

This is what Changpeng Zhao allegedly said to Sam Bankman Fried. Indeed, the CEO of Binance predicted an attempt by SBF to destabilize the market. 

Other members of the group also feared that the trades made by Alameda Research were an attempt to destabilize USDT, with potentially disastrous consequences for the entire cryptocurrency market.

Sam Bankman Fried, however, denied the veracity of the facts in one of his latest interviews, explaining that these were attempts to attack his image and his now-bankrupt company. 

“That day, when he tweeted, he should have been working on other things. He should not be tweeting. In one of the messages I sent him in an industry group, I said ‘Honest advice Sam, stop what you’re doing, don’t do anything else, put on a suit and go back to Washington and start answering questions.”

This is how CZ responded on Twitter to Sam Bankman Fried about the event related to their group.