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At a time when FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is going through possibly the worst crisis of his life, Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary has strongly backed him in the ongoing Congressional hearing.
Testifying before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Wednesday, he said SBF is one of the best traders in the crypto space and he (SBF) had almost secured $8 billion to save his crypto exchange from bankruptcy.
Recounting the chain of sequences after he discovered that his funds in FTX were inaccessible and he was not able to talk to any of the FTX executives, O’Leary talked to SBF and tried to understand the problem with the exchange.
According to O’Leary who is also known as Mr. Wonderful, SBF told him that FTX got into a liquidity crisis after it paid out $2 to $3 billion to Binance last year to buy out its 20% stake in FTX.
Binance which was an early-stage investor in FTX would not cooperate with regulators whenever FTX tried to seek a license in other markets, he clarified, saying he doesn’t have these details on record and his testimony can be considered his opinion only.
“One put the other out of business intentionally. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with that… but Binance is a massive unregulated global monopoly now. They put FTX out of business, O’Leary told the panel, adding that he would back SBF once again if he comes up with another venture.
SBF was arrested by the Bahamian authorities at the request of the US government early this week. He has been charged with committing wire and securities fraud, among others. A Bahamian court denied him bail and the next hearing for his extradition to the US wll take place on February 8, 2023.
