Mike Novogratz said that the FTX founder was “delusional” about his culpability in the crypto exchange’s collapse. He further added that crypto firms should never lend out customers’ funds without taking their permission.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, has been making public appearances and giving interviews. But crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz, also the founder of Galaxy Digital, strongly believes that the FTX founder should be in jail.
Novogratz’s comments came during his recent interview with CNBC on Thursday, December 1, wherein he called the FTX debacle “a crisis of confidence”. He also stated that the FTX collapse created a major trust deficit for crypto across the financial markets.
The Galaxy Digital CEO described SBF as delusional and someone who’s prime to grandiosity. Speaking on this matter, Novogratz added:
“It was delusional. Let’s be really clear. Sam was delusional about what happened and his culpability in it. He needs to be prosecuted. He will spend time in jail. And it wasn’t just Sam. You don’t pull this off with one person.”
Furthermore, Novogratz also stated that the crypto space has failed to regulate itself in the industry where everything basically depends on the trust factor. He further added that he was open to welcoming regulations. Novogratz said:
“I think the money side of crypto, companies like ours that buy and sell and lend and do derivatives, are going to get regulated and should be”.
Novogratz further added that the absence of FTX’s in-house accounting department led to its messy balance sheet and the crude mistake of mixing up the financials of FTX and Alameda. He further added that crypto firms should never lend out customers’ funds without taking their permission. Besides, Novogratz added that any digital assets platform needs to have clear terms and conditions. He believes that Bitcoin and blockchain will continue to survive irrespective of the FTX fall.
FTX Founder Claims Innocence
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX exchange has been claiming innocence over the entire development and has been giving public interviews. Earlier this week, he gave an interview with financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook Summit event on Wednesday.
In another interview, he also spoke to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and said that he regrets not having done enough to prevent the fall of FTX. “I really, deeply wish that I had taken a lot more responsibility for understanding what the details were of what was going on. I should have been on top of this, and I feel really, really bad and regretful that I wasn’t. A lot of people got hurt. And that’s on me,” he added.
Besides, the FTX founder also conceded that investors who lost their money with FTC collapse might see him as a villain. “A lot of people look at you and see Bernie Madoff,” Stephanopoulos said. “I don’t think that’s who I am at all,” Bankman-Fried responded. “But I understand why they’re saying that. People lost money. People lost a lot of money.”
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
