Washington, Nov 30 – The founder of the ill-fated cryptocurrency platform FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, assured this Wednesday that he was not aware that client funds were being redirected to his associated investment firm, Alameda, one of the main reasons that led to bankruptcy.

In a virtual interview broadcast live by The News York Times, Bankman-Fried said he did not “knowingly” mix funds, that he was not the one running Alameda and that he has only been aware of what was happening in recent weeks. when the facts have been publicly disclosed.

FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11 and last week the company’s new managers appeared for the first time before the bankruptcy court of the state of Delaware (USA) to begin the restructuring process.

Lawyers for the new board and its current head, John Ray, argue that a “substantial amount” of the company’s assets may have been stolen or are missing.

The new managers have also denounced that the company had a “total absence of corporate controls” and a lack of “reliable financial information”.

The platform, which came to be valued at 32,000 million dollars, could have more than a million creditors around the world. So far, the company has admitted that it owes more than $3 billion to its top 50 creditors.

However, Bankman-Fried blames the bankruptcy in part on the massive sale of cryptocurrencies that occurred at the beginning of the year.

For the founder of the company, that sale halved FTX’s guarantee, of about 30,000 million dollars.

At that point, according to Bankman-Fried, the sale of cryptocurrencies continued, combined with a credit crunch and a “flight from the bank,” which reduced the collateral to $9 billion before FTX filed for bankruptcy.

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