In a comprehensive report published by The Wall Street Journal, shocking details have emerged about Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the embattled founder of FTX, who carelessly misplaced a staggering 20 million XRP for several weeks.
This incident occurred while SBF was conducting trades from the Alameda Research account, raising serious concerns about his handling of customer funds.
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The Lost XRP and SBF’s Nonchalant Response
According to the report, SBF downplayed the significance of the lost funds, suggesting that the money might have been transferred from a US-based exchange, regularly used by Alameda, to a South Korean counterpart.
This casual response from SBF sparked worries among Alameda Research employees, who felt that the situation was not being taken seriously.
Employees at Alameda Research had to take matters into their own hands and pressure SBF into refraining from trading for two weeks. They believed that this pause was necessary to conduct a thorough investigation into the missing funds. SBF reluctantly accepted this condition, indicating a lack of transparency and accountability on his part.
During the investigation, SBF attempted to convince employees to falsely claim that the company still possessed 80% of its XRP assets, despite the fact that the tokens were missing. This further eroded trust in SBF’s leadership and raised questions about his integrity.
The disappearance of the 20 million XRP tokens became the breaking point for Alameda Research employees who had already grown weary of SBF’s reckless approach to managing the company’s accounts.
Even during the period when the funds were unaccounted for, Alameda Research continued to execute over 250,000 trades per day, with most of them lacking proper documentation.
Recovery of the Missing XRP
Several months later, Alameda Research finally located the missing XRP tokens. It was discovered that the tokens had been transferred from the Kraken exchange to the South Korean-based crypto platform, Bithumb.
Surprisingly, the 20 million XRP arrived at Bithumb without any indication of the sender’s identity. However, Alameda Research did not promptly reach out to reclaim the funds, raising questions about their handling of the situation.
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SBF’s Interaction with Bithumb
Upon realizing where the misplaced tokens had gone, Sam Bankman-Fried directly contacted Bithumb. In a candid phone conversation, a Bithumb employee expressed their surprise at the delayed communication, asking, “Are you the f—er who sent us like 20 million Ripple tokens? How the f— are you only calling us now?” This interaction further highlights the lack of oversight and timely action by SBF and Alameda Research.
The incident involving the misplaced XRP is just one of many shocking revelations surrounding SBF’s handling of customer funds. Recent reports have also disclosed SBF’s use of profits from Alameda Research to purchase Solana (SOL) at an incredibly low price of $0.20.
Additionally, SBF’s belief that it was acceptable to invest FTX customer funds in the sister company, Alameda Research, raises serious ethical concerns.
This damning report by The Wall Street Journal provides further evidence of SBF’s reckless mishandling of customer funds and his apparent lack of sound judgment.
The case involving the misplaced XRP tokens represents just one example of a broader pattern of mismanagement observed during SBF’s tenure at FTX and Alameda Research.
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