Mike Novogratz Says Bankman-Fried Is ‘Delusional’ And Going To Prison
Sam Bankman-Fried and his associates, according to the CEO of Galaxy Digital, committed fraud, which is why he thinks they need to go to prison.
Following a string of contentious public appearances, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has come under fire this week. Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital is the most recent person criticizing the former crypto kingpin.
Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, blasted SBF in a storm of criticism on December 1 after his interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the annual DealBook Summit hosted by the New York Times on November 30.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Novogratz called SBF “delusional” after he claimed during the live interview that he had never attempted to conduct fraud.
“It’s kind of surprising that his lawyers are letting him speak,” Novogratz said before adding, “having watched two interviews, the word delusional kept coming to mind.”
The criticism didn’t end there, as Novogratz echoed the opinion of many well-known cryptocurrency community members that the former CEO of FTX ought to spend time in prison.
“The reality is that Sam and his cohorts perpetuated a fraud. He stole money from people; people should go to jail.”
Galaxy Digital, which declared a $76.8 million exposure to the insolvent company, is one of the victims of the FTX bankruptcy.
The previous CEO of FTX also seems to have been making many media appearances lately.
In a December 1 interview with Good Morning America, SBF asserted that FTX was a “real business” and not a “Ponzi scheme,” and she denied knowing that FTX client deposits were being used to pay Alameda’s creditors.
In a recent Twitter Spaces interview with Mario Nawfal, the founder and CEO of the IBC Group, SBF once again claimed to be unaware of the situation involving his firms. When questioned about what occurred, his answers were cryptic.
“I, you know, basically, and I should caveat this by saying that I, unfortunately, don’t have access to most of the data right now,” he said.
The response was similarly heated, with many claiming that SBF was attempting to convey his unfamiliarity and lack of understanding of what was happening.
Jesse Powell, a cofounder of Kraken, criticized SBF for misunderstanding how margin trading works.
SBF is completely full of shit about how margin trading works. He's saying that the whole exchange operated on a net account equity model and anybody could borrow anything (in any amount?) from client funds or from nowhere. That's not how it should work.https://t.co/3k7PkbAHVM
Ben Armstrong, the developer of BitBoy Crypto, is said to have planned his own Twitter Spaces event with SBF, scheduled for December 3.
SBF has also received criticism from the crypto community this week for his illogical comments and lack of responsibility.
On December 1, Reflexivity Research cofounder Will Clemente said the NYT interview was painful, adding, “SBF is talking straight out of his ass. I can’t give a straight answer or even look at the camera. He’s just digging himself a deeper hole …”
