Sam Bankman-Fried Wants to Start New Business to Repay FTX Users — ‘I’m Going to Try if I Can’

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has revealed that he wants to start another business in the hope of earning money to repay FTX customers. “I would give anything to be able to do that. And I’m going to try if I can,” he said.

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, was asked in an interview with the BBC, published Saturday, whether he planned to start a new business venture to earn the money to pay FTX investors and customers back. The former FTX boss replied:

I would give anything to be able to do that. And I’m going to try if I can.

He added: “I’m going to be thinking about how we can help the world and if users haven’t gotten much back, I’m going to be thinking about what I can do for them. And I think at the very least I have a duty to FTX users to do right by them as best as I can.”

FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11 and an estimated one million customers and investors lost billions of dollars in the exchange collapse. However, Bankman-Fried has insisted that he did not knowingly commingle customer funds or commit fraud. SBF told the news outlet:

I didn’t knowingly commit fraud, I don’t think I committed fraud, I didn’t want any of this to happen. I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was.

Bankman-Fried was also asked whether he is prepared for the possibility of him going to prison. The former FTX CEO replied:

There’s some time at night ruminating, yes, but when I get up during the day, I try and focus, be as productive as I can and ignore things that are out of my control.

At least one person has said he will support SBF again if he has another venture. Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, believes that Bankman-Fried is one of the best traders in the crypto space. He and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman are convinced that the former FTX chief did not knowingly commit fraud. O’Leary was paid $15 million by FTX to become the exchange’s spokesperson. The Shark Tank star also nearly secured $8 billion to save FTX before it collapsed.

On Monday evening, the Office of the Attorney General & Ministry of Legal Affairs announced that Bankman-Fried has been arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force after the U.S. filed criminal charges against him.

What do you think about Sam Bankman-Fried wanting to start a new business venture to repay FTX users? Let us know in the comments section below.