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Coinbase CEO questions 'careless bookkeeping' at FTX

Brian Armstrong sees clear signs of theft rather than a simple accounting error at the collapsed crypto exchange FTX.

By Finst News
• 3 min read
Coinbase CEO questions 'careless bookkeeping' at FTX

Brian Armstrong sees clear signs of theft instead of a simple error in the books of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX.

The head of the crypto exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, condemned Saturday in a tweet the statements of Sam Bankman-Fried over the downfall of the FTX empire. He claimed last week in several interviews that the eight-billion-dollar gap in FTX's books was merely the result of his "carelessness".

Armstrong has doubts

Armstrong found this dubious. Even "the most trusting person" cannot "believe in a simple accounting error" with such amounts, said the Coinbase boss. "It's just customer money stolen by a hedge fund," he further stated clearly. He referred to the involvement of trading firm Alameda Research, which Bankman-Fried would have provided with client funds.

New CEO temporarily appointed

Armstrong's sharp criticism follows statements by FTX's new CEO John Ray, who is steering the company through bankruptcy proceedings after Bankman-Fried's departure. In his testimony to the bankruptcy court, Ray described the precarious state of FTX's books as "unprecedented." Bankman-Fried meanwhile denies that he deliberately embezzled client funds. He maintains that he was only "careless" in following internal events.

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