After reading "Freedom of Money" , the FTX collapse chapter reads like a movie.
Here are the key moments 👇
November 2022
Sam Bankman-Fried calls Changpeng Zhao asking for “a couple of billion dollars” like he was ordering a sandwich.
Binance signs a non-binding LOI, not to buy FTX, but just to assess the damage and protect users. CZ had zero intention of owning the exchange.
Caroline Ellison publicly offers to buy Binance’s FTT at $22. CZ later calls this the “fatal mistake.” It gave traders a clear price floor to short.
FTT crashes from $22 → $15 → $5 within hours.
$6 billion gets withdrawn from FTX in just 72 hours. Liquidity evaporates.
November 9: Binance walks away completely. Binance’s $580M FTT holdings become worthless.
December 14: Binance itself sees $7 billion withdrawn in a single day. Even CZ admits he was worried, but reserves held strong.
In the middle of total chaos, CZ stayed calm, protected users, and never lost control.
