(NEW YORK) — Cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed from a multibillion-dollar corporate darling into a bankrupt cautionary tale within a matter of weeks
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who appeared on the cover of Fortune magazine in August as “the next Warren Buffett,” was slapped with an eight-count indictment from the Southern District of New York on Tuesday for charges of fraud and conspiracy.
The fall of FTX is one of the most sudden and massive in recent corporate history.
Here is a look at the company’s downfall, by the numbers:
10%: In 2018, that’s how much more Bitcoin was selling for in Japan compared with the U.S. The then-25-year-old Bankman-Fried bought large amounts of the popular token in the U.S. and sold them in Japan, moving as much as $25 million in Bitcoin each day. The profits from this trade helped him launch FTX.
$32 billion: That was the value of FTX as recently as January. FTX, an exchange that allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrency, drew customers for its low trading fees, the variety of coins on offer, and the complex futures and options trades available. The company declared bankruptcy in November, within weeks of a customer sell-off totaling billions of dollars
$210 million: That was the size of a stake taken in FTX by Sequoia Capital, a top venture firm. Last month, Sequoia Capital wrote down its stake in FTX to $0.
As many as 1 million: The number of creditors owed money by FTX, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said on Tuesday. Some crypto traders, who deposited their savings on the platform, may never get their money back.
At least $3 billion: The amount that FTX owes to creditors, according to Waters.
$26 billion: The estimated size of Bankman-Fried’s net worth at its peak in March.
$5.2 million: The amount that Bankman-Fried gave in support of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential bid, making him the campaign’s second-largest donor after former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
0: As of last October, that’s the number of people in the world under 30 years old who were wealthier than Bankman-Fried, then 29 years old, Forbes reported.
$100,000: The amount of money currently held by Bankman-Fried, he told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos last week.
90%: The stake in Alameda Research owned by Bankman-Fried, according to House testimony from new FTX CEO John Ray on Tuesday.
Bankman-Fried faces accusations that FTX used deposits to pay Alameda Research creditors, a claim reportedly made by former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison during a call in early November.
In an interview last week, Bankman-Fried told Stephanopoulos that he was not aware that was true but said Alameda had a large position open on FTX that was “overcollateralized a year ago.”
Ray, who is overseeing the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, said at as House committee hearing Tuesday that no separation existed between the operations of FTX and Alameda Research
“There were virtually no internal controls and no separateness whatsoever,” Ray said.
Several billion dollars: The amount of customer funds that FTX lent to Alameda Research, the crypto hedge fund also founded by Bankman-Fried, Ray told House members on Tuesday.
“We know the size of the harm was significant,” he said.
11: The number of professional athletes and other celebrities sued last month over their endorsement of FTX. The list of celebrities includes Larry David, Naomi Osaka, Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and Kevin O’Leary.
“I had no knowledge, nor did any of the other celebrities, of what occurred here,” O’Leary, an entrepreneur and panelist on the TV show “Shark Tank,” told ABC’s “Nightline” in November.
8: The number of counts of conspiracy and fraud brought against Bankman-Fried in an indictment unsealed by the Southern District of New York on Tuesday.
“Bankman-Fried, along with others, engaged in a scheme to defraud customers by misappropriating those customers’ deposits, and using those deposits to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research,” the indictment said.
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