FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried is 'one of the greatest fraudsters in history' and a 'master manipulator,' Binance CEO says

Binance's CEO says FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is "one of the greatest fraudsters in history."
"FTX killed themselves (and their users) because they stole billions of dollars of user funds," the CEO said.
Bankman-Fried chalks up FTX's collapse to accounting errors and denied allegations of the misuse of customer funds.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as "CZ", spoke out against disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his once-$32 billion crypto empire.

CZ, who cofounded Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume, took to Twitter to address a series of "wrong narratives" surrounding FTX's swift collapse on Tuesday.

Before FTX faced a severe liquidity crisis and later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Bankman-Fried was seen by many as an industry wunderkind, whose firms notched ad campaigns with A-list celebrities like Tom Brady and secured backing from investing giants like BlackRock and Sequoia Capital.

"SBF perpetuated a narrative painting me and other people as the "bad guys". It was critical in maintaining the fantasy that he was a "hero,"" the Binance exec tweeted. "SBF is one of the greatest fraudsters in history, he is also a master manipulator when it comes to media and key opinion leaders."

—CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) December 6, 2022

In early November, Binance liquidated its holdings of FTX's FTT token after a bombshell Coindesk report revealed that the FTT was used to prop up the balance sheet of Bankman-Fried's trading shop Alameda Research.

Observers have pointed to CZ's tweet announcing that Binance is dumping its FTT position as a way of sabotaging its rival. Bankman-Fried's FTX would soon become insolvent, but the Binance exec says "no healthy business can be destroyed by a tweet."

Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison gave away the token's floor in a November 6 tweet that offered to buy Binance's FTT holdings, CZ says, citing a Bloomberg report.

—Caroline (@carolinecapital) November 6, 2022

As for claims that FTX was sabotaged by a third party, CZ said the exchange "killed themselves (and their users) because they stole billions of dollars of user funds. Period."

Bankman-Fried chalks up FTX's collapse to accounting errors and maintains he never intentionally misused funds or defrauded anyone.

"I didn't ever try to commit fraud," Bankman-Fried said the New York Times DealBook Summit on November 30. "I was excited about the prospects of FTX a month ago. I saw it as a thriving, growing business. I was shocked by what happened this month. And reconstructing it, there are things that I wish I had done differently."

Bankman-Fried did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

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