The latest crypto crash has seen a massive slump in the price of virtual currencies across the board. After years of investment, one crypto billionaire is paying the price.
CEO of digital asset firm FTX Sam Bankman-Fried has seen his wealth plummet by 94%. After a takeover deal by competitor Binance fell through, the crypto-billionaire has lost over $13 billion.
According to the Bloomberg Wealth Index, Bankman-Fried is no longer a billionaire. The crypto mogul was estimated to be worth around $15.2 billion. However, he is now predicted to be worth $991.5 million.
In a tell-all report by tech outlet Reuters, Bankman-Fried has admitted fault to employees at FTX. In a statement to his employees, the CEO simply said: “I’m sorry. I f**ked up.”
Bankman-Fried’s downfall was sold I’ve the course of this year. As 2021 saw multiple prior crypto crashes, the CEO acted to save other crypto companies from bankruptcy.
At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin — the biggest crypto token — it lower than its value in 2017. It turns out that the cryptocurrency industry cannot escape the recession and high interest rates it was initially designed to combat back in 2008.
However, the massive issues with FTX’s currency crash isn’t the only one plaguing the sinking ship. FTX is also under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over mishandling of customer funds. Furthermore, another investigation is underway by Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Binance will no longer be acting as the White Knight to save FTX. The crypto exchange revealed on Twitter that it would be leaving the company to fend for itself after recent reports.
“As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of [FTX],” the company tweeted.
The fall of the crypto billionaire is the largest drop of a billionaire’s worth in history. While Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has lost more dollar worth over this year’s financial woes, Bankman-Fried has lost a higher percentage.
It’s not impossible for the cryptocurrency industry to pull out of this recent crash. However, after a large number of crashes in the past two years, it does seem that crypto is on its last legs. Oh well.