FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried attempts to raise cash: report

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of beleaguered crypto exchange FTX, is engaging in discussions with several investors to raise cash and infuse liquidity into his bankrupt exchange, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the report, Bankman-Fried and some of the employees left at FTX spent the last week making calls to prospective investors in search of much-needed capital.

However, the Wall Street Journal could not determine if any investors have committed.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in the US last Friday after a last-ditch effort to save the exchange when Binance – the world’s largest crypto exchange – pulled out of its bailout deal, leaving Bankman-Fried scrambling for funds.

Problems have mounted for the 30-year-old the FTX CEO as
regulators opened probes following its spectacular collapse last week. Rival exchanges have sought to reassure jittery investors of their own stability, weighing on cryptocurrencies on Monday.

The implosion of FTX, once a darling of the crypto industry with a $32 billion valuation as of January, has spurred investigations by the US Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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