FTX's Final Days: SkyBridge Founder Scaramucci Discusses Meeting with Bankman-Fried in Bahamas
SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci has spoken about his visit to the Bahamas to meet Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced CEO of now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, during the firm's final days.
In early November last year, Scaramucci flew to the Bahamas to personally talk to Bankman-Fried after it was revealed that the now-bankrupt exchange might be on shaky financial grounds, he said during Consensus 2023 conference on Thursday.
Scaramucci said he found a "war room" of FTX executives there, adding that it was clear that a small group of individuals at FTX had done something wrong.
He compared the catastrophic collapse of FTX to that of Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme, arguing that it is only plausible to commit such crimes with a small group of people.
“It's very hard to commit a crime like this with a large group of people because … there's always a person of conscience that comes out and says, ‘Hey, I don't want to do this.’”
At the center of the war room was Bankman-Fried, who apologized to Scaramucci and claimed that FTX's financial troubles were due to mislabeling, he recalled.
Despite the collapse of FTX, Scaramucci claims that SkyBridge has not been affected as much as some media outlets have suggested.
The firm reportedly has ample cash on hand and cryptocurrency reserves. “Some people in the press have written a couple of obituaries about SkyBridge, but I think our demise is greatly exaggerated," he said.
Scaramucci acted as a mentor and partner to Bankman-Fried, coordinating the crypto wunderkind’s fundraising trips in North America and the Middle East.
In early 2022, FTX also bought 30% of SkyBridge Capital. However, following the exchange's implosion, Scaramucci said he intended to buy back the
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