Sam Bankman-Fried Expresses Surprise Over FTX Withdrawal Halt In US

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried expressed his doubts over the handling of user fund withdrawals in the US arm of the crypto exchange.
By Anvesh Reddy
Updated May 19, 2025
Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried FTX News: In an interesting turn of events, Sam Bankman-Fried had on Thursday expressed doubts over the handling of fund withdrawals at FTX US. The FTX founder said he was sure of FTX US solvency when the company filed for bankruptcy around November 12. As part of the bankruptcy announcement, SBF stepped down from the role of CEO while John J Ray III has been appointed as his replacement to oversee the bankruptcy process.

Also Read: Mike Novogratz On Actual Bitcoin Price If Not For FTX Collapse

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SBF Remark Aimed At New CEO John J Ray III

In a tweet, SBF said he was surprised as to why US withdrawals were turned off. Meanwhile, SBF’s comments may be seen as criticism on FTX’s handling under new CEO John J Ray III. Earlier in November 2022, the new CEO called the FTX situation ‘unprecedented’. Ray said the situation was unlike any corporate failure he saw in his long career. SBF’s comments on FTX withdrawals read,

“When I filed, I am fairly sure FTX US was solvent, and that all US customers could be made whole. To my knowledge, it still is today. I was expecting that to happen. I am surprised it hasn’t. I am not sure why US withdrawals were turned off.”

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US Arm Of FTX Insolvent?

The latest statement from SBF also raised his concerns around the solvency of various FTX subsidiaries. He indicated that FTX US was actually solvent at the time of filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a ripple effect from the crypto crash that ensued the liquidity crisis with FTX, crypto lender BlockFi officially filed for bankruptcy. In its bankruptcy filing, the company said it had a pending $275 million loan to FTX.

Also Read: Crypto Lender BlockFi Bankruptcy Live Updates: Failure Of FTX Cripple BlockFi, As Per Court Filings

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Anvesh Reddy
Anvesh reports major crypto updates around U.S. regulation and market moving trends. Published over 1400 articles so far on crypto and blockchain. A proud dropout of University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Can be reached at [email protected] or x.com/BitcoinReddy or linkedin.com/in/anveshreddybtc/
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