24h: that’s how long it took to make multi-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried a “mere” multi-millionaire. The FTX CEO’s fortune was hit hard by the catastrophic fall of the FTT token this week. We take a look back at what happened.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s fortune vanishes in a day
The billionaire and founder of FTX had a substantial portion of his holdings in FTT, the exchange’s native token. In total, Sam Bankman-Fried saw his fortune fall by 93% in 24 hours. This is an almost unheard of decline for a fortune of this size. The ex-billionaire tried to get out the oars this week to reassure users who were rushing to make withdrawals, in the face of a plunging FTT price, but it was of course not enough.
Sam Bankman-Fried has been silent on Twitter since his last announcement, when he explained that he had reached an agreement with Binance to buy FTX. He also thanked Changpeng Zhao, following a week of conflict:
4) A *huge* thank you to CZ, Binance, and all of our supporters. This is a user-centric development that benefits the entire industry. CZ has done, and will continue to do, an incredible job of building out the global crypto ecosystem, and creating a freer economic world.
– SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 8, 2022
A huge thank you to CZ, Binance, and all our supporters. This is a user-based development that will benefit the entire industry. CZ has done, and will continue to do, great work to create a global crypto ecosystem, and a freer economic world. “
Freer, or more focused? There seems to be no stopping Binance, which has just made short work of one of its biggest competitors. CZ has just pulled off a masterstroke, but there are concerns about what this means for the ecosystem as a whole.
FTT tries to hang on to $5
In less than 24 hours, the price of FTT has lost -88%. A catastrophic fall, which seems to have been stopped only by the announcement of a probable purchase of FTX by Binance. Since then, the token has been clinging to the $5 mark as best it can. Just yesterday, the CEO of Alameda Research offered Changpeng Zhao to buy Binance’s FTTs for $22.
Catastrophic fall in FTT price in yesterday’s
FTX’s token capitalization this morning is down to $695 million. In addition, the fall of the FTX empire has had wider consequences. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell back below $18,000 overnight and is now at a paltry $18,390. As commentators compare this event to the fall of Terra (LUNA), one wonders how far the repercussions of this affair will go.
