In a lengthy apology, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, better known as “SBF”, assured the crypto community that the recent turn of events would only affect FTX International. According to him, “FTX US, a US-based exchange that accepts Americans, was not financially hurt by this shitty show.” He assured users that FTX US is “100% liquid” and that “every user can fully withdraw funds (modulo gas fees, etc.)”.
However, many are beginning to question the veracity of his claim as a recent announcement on the FTX US website is starting to surprise users. According to a banner at the top of the FTX US website, “trading on FTX US may be stopped in a few days.” The announcement urged users of the exchange to “please close any positions” they may wish to close, while reassuring its users that “withdrawals are and will remain open.”
FTX International’s liquidity issues arose over the past seven days when Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced that his exchange was liquidating its holdings of FTX tokens (FTT). CZ’s announcement effectively triggered a run on the banks, with FTX users attempting to withdraw funds only to find that the exchange did not have enough liquidity to meet the demand.
Reports also surfaced last week that Bankman-Fried called investors and said the exchange needed $8 billion in emergency funding to cover withdrawal requests and expected to raise $3 to $4 billion.
On October 10, it was reported that Etherscan data showed that the troubled cryptocurrency exchange appeared to have resumed withdrawals.