Cryptocurrency markets have been awash with the FTX scandal in recent weeks. The giant stock market went bankrupt due to the liquidity crisis. CEO Sam Bankman-Fried also stepped down. Binance, the world’s largest exchange, also announced that it would buy FTX first during these events; However, he later abandoned this decision.
While discussions on FTX continued unabated, today there was a small discussion on Twitter between Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). Let’s take a look at what happened.
CZ calls former FTX CEO a ‘scammer’
https://twitter.com/twitter/status/1601140809491185664
CZ made a post on Twitter about the famous Canadian businessman Kevin O’ Leary. In this post, she shared O’Leary’s remarks on a program she attended and responded harshly to them. While saying that he lost close to $ 15 million in FTX in this program, O’Leary used expressions supporting the former CEO of FTX. He also blamed Binance for the collapse of FTX, adding that SBF had told him that it was using a significant portion of FTX’s liquidity to try to buy back shares that Binance had sold.
Naturally, these statements made CZ very angry. “It seems that $15 million not only changed Kevin O’Leary’s thinking about crypto, but also made him collaborate with a scammer,” Binance CEO tweeted. Is he really defending Sam Bankman-Fried?” He responded harshly to O’Leary, describing the former CEO of FTX as a swindler.
In addition, CZ stated in the post that they sold their FTX shares in July 2021, and at this time, they began to be suspicious about SBF’s company, Alameda, which was at the forefront of events. The Binance boss also stated that the bankrupt exchange had bad expenses such as Super Bowl ads, baseball games, luxury homes. He also highlighted that after Binance’s withdrawal from FTX investment, SBF went crazy and even threatened its own team.
Finally, the CEO was tough on FTX, telling O’Leary that if he really wanted to find a culprit, he should head to SBF and maybe look in the mirror.
Sam Bankman-Fried responded to CZ: “You won, why are you lying?”
You won, @cz_binance.
There's no need to lie, now, about the buyout.
We initiated conversations around buying you out, and we decided to do it because it was important for our business.
And while I was frustrated with your 'negotiation' tactics, I chose to still do it.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 9, 2022
The response from the former CEO of FTX to these statements of CZ was not delayed. In its post, SBF accused CZ of lying and used the following statements:
“You win CZ, no need to lie about the purchase anymore. We had discussions about the purchase and we decided to do it because it was important to us. Even though I was disappointed with the way you interviewed me, I chose to do it anyway. You threatened to quit at the last minute if we didn’t give you the extra $75 million. Yet we did; because it made us feel more comfortable not wanting Binance among our investors. All this is unnecessary. You won. Why are you lying about it now?”
SBF also said, “You as an investor did not have the right to withdraw unless we bought the shares. At that time, most of the investments were locked,” he added.
Sam, not that it matters now. You also can’t force us to sell if we don’t want to. Also, we have the veto right to block any further fundraising you were doing. Never used or mentioned it. It was never a competition or fight. No one won. 1/2
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) December 9, 2022
CZ replied that no one wins and there is never a rivalry or fight, saying that they can’t force them to sell if they don’t want to. Adding that none of them matter anymore, Binance CEO also suggested to SBF to focus on himself instead of focusing on others.
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