Conversation

1) I'm sorry. That's the biggest thing. I fucked up, and should have done better.

2:13 PM · Nov 10, 2022Twitter Web App

Replying to

2) I also should have been communicating more very recently. Transparently--my hands were tied during the duration of the possible Binance deal; I wasn't particularly allowed to say much publicly. But of course it's on me that we ended up there in the first place.

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3) So here's an update on where things are. [THIS IS ALL ABOUT FTX INTERNATIONAL, THE NON-US EXCHANGE. FTX US USERS ARE FINE!] [TREAT ALL OF THESE NUMBERS AS ROUGH. THERE ARE APPROXIMATIONS HERE.]

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4) FTX International currently has a total market value of assets/collateral higher than client deposits (moves with prices!). But that's different from liquidity for delivery--as you can tell from the state of withdrawals. The liquidity varies widely, from very to very little.

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5) The full story here is one I'm still fleshing out every detail of, but as a very high level, I fucked up twice. The first time, a poor internal labeling of bank-related accounts meant that I was substantially off on my sense of users' margin. I thought it was way lower.

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6) My sense before: Leverage: 0x USD liquidity ready to deliver: 24x average daily withdrawals Actual: Leverage: 1.7x Liquidity: 0.8x Sunday's withdrawals Because, of course, when it rains, it pours. We saw roughly $5b of withdrawals on Sunday--the largest by a huge margin.

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7) And so I was off twice. Which tells me a lot of things, both specifically and generally, that I was shit at. And a third time, in not communicating enough. I should have said more. I'm sorry--I was slammed with things to do and didn't give updates to you all.

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8) And so we are where we are. Which sucks, and that's on me. I'm sorry.

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9) Anyway: right now, my #1 priority--by far--is doing right by users. And I'm going to do everything I can to do that. To take responsibility, and do what I can.

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10) So, right now, we're spending the week doing everything we can to raise liquidity. I can't make any promises about that. But I'm going to try. And give anything I have to if that will make it work.

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11) There are a number of players who we are in talks with, LOIs, term sheets, etc. We'll see how that ends up.

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12) Every penny of that--and of the existing collateral--will go straight to users, unless or until we've done right by them. After that, investors--old and new--and employees who have fought for what's right for their career, and who weren't responsible for any of the fuck ups.

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13) Because at the end of the day, I was CEO, which means that *I* was responsible for making sure that things went well. *I*, ultimately, should have been on top of everything. I clearly failed in that. I'm sorry.

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14) So, what does this mean going forward? I'm not sure--that depends on what happens over the next week. But here are some things I know.

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15) First, one way or another, Alameda Research is winding down trading. They aren't doing any of the weird things that I see on Twitter--and nothing large at all. And one way or another, soon they won't be trading on FTX anymore.

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16) Second, in any scenario in which FTX continues operating, its first priority will be radical transparency--transparency it probably always should have been giving. Giving as close to on-chain transparency as it can: so that people know *exactly* what is happening on it.

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17) All of the stakeholders would have a hard look at FTX governance. I will not be around if I'm not wanted. All of the stakeholders--investors, regulators, users--would have a large part to play in how it would be run. Solely trust.

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18) But all of that isn't what matters right now--what matters right now is trying to do right by customers. That's it.

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19) A few other assorted comments: This was about FTX International. FTX US, the US based exchange that accepts Americans, was not financially impacted by this shitshow. It's 100% liquid. Every user could fully withdraw (modulo gas fees etc). Updates on its future coming.

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20) At some point I might have more to say about a particular sparring partner, so to speak. But you know, glass houses. So for now, all I'll say is: well played; you won.

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21) NOT ADVICE, OF ANY KIND, IN ANY WAY I WAS NOT VERY CAREFUL WITH MY WORDS HERE, AND DO NOT MEAN ANY OF THEM IN A TECHNICAL OR LEGAL SENSE; I MAY WELL HAVE NOT DESCRIBED THINGS RIGHT though I'm trying to be transparent. I'M NOT A GOOD DEV AND PROBABLY MISDESCRIBED SOMETHING.

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22) And, finally: I sincerely apologize. We'll keep sharing updates as we have them.

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