@CZ the former CEO of Binance published his memoirs this week. In this book, we learn some details about the relationship between CZ and Sam Bankman-Fried and what happened during the collapse of FTX.
CZ mentions Sam Bankman-Fried in his autobiography
CZ's book is not at all lenient with Sam Bankman-Fried. CZ claims that the latter was on the list of "people he didn't like" and adds that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was a "sophisticated opportunist" who didn't really know how to conduct business.
He claims that SBF's entrepreneurial logic was not based on a competitive product, but rather on maneuvers to evade regulations. As early as 2022, CZ stated that the rival platform showed suspicious performance that could not be based on legitimate activities.
Purchase project of FTX by Binance
At the time FTX began to show great difficulty, Binance wished to buy the trading platform. CZ mentions that he didn't particularly want to proceed with this purchase but saw it as an opportunity to avoid a deep crisis in the sector:
" I have no desire to own FTX. I wasn't particularly concerned about helping Sam Bankman either. But I thought we should perhaps intervene to protect users and the sector "
At the beginning of November 2022, Binance proposed to buy FTX. However, the deal fell through very quickly. CZ realized that the FTX teams could not provide an accounting balance sheet and that the company's executives were abandoning ship. Faced with this disastrous situation, Binance withdrew its offer very quickly in less than 24 hours!
All the more because Sam Bankman-Fried's attitude was strange. According to CZ, the latter asked him for several billion dollars at Binance. CZ was surprised by the nonchalance with which SBF made this request " as if he were asking for a ham sandwich "
Hundreds of millions of dollars in losses
After withdrawing the proposal from Binance, FTX's collapse accelerated until its bankruptcy.
CZ saw the FTT held by his company plunge. For an estimated loss of 580 million dollars. Panic also seized Binance users who withdrew 7 billion dollars in a few days.
Since the FTX affair, the two former CEOs have gone to prison. CZ received 4 months of imprisonment in 2024 associated with a fine of 50 million dollars. Sam Bankman-Fried, for his part, received 25 years in prison in 2024 associated with the confiscation of several billion dollars.