Who’s who in the FTX mess
- This guide will help you follow the crisis at the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange
The collapse of FTX has shaken the crypto world. To help you keep it all straight, here’s a quick list of the main people and companies involved.
The People
Sam Bankman-Fried: The 30-year-old co-founder of FTX and related companies. With a moptop of unruly curls and a penchant for shorts and T-shirts, Mr. Bankman-Fried grew FTX into one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world, and before the collapse he was reportedly worth about $16 billion. He was also a regular fixture in Washington, talking to lawmakers about regulation for the crypto industry. He resigned from FTX when it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.
Changpeng Zhao: The founder and CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance. In early November, Mr. Zhao announced Binance would sell its hoard of FTT tokens, a cryptocurrency created as part of FTX’s trading network. Mr. Zhao cited “risk management" purposes. Other investors panicked and started withdrawing their money from FTX.
Caroline Ellison: CEO of Alameda Research, a Hong Kong-based crypto-trading firm affiliated with Mr. Bankman-Fried and FTX. After Mr. Zhao said he would liquidate his FTT tokens, Ms. Ellison sought to reassure investors about the state of Alameda’s balance sheet. Like Mr. Bankman-Fried, she was previously a trader at Jane Street,a quantitative-trading firm.She and two others constitute the board of the nonprofit FTX Foundation, which described itself as a “philanthropic collective."
John J. Ray III: He was named the new CEO of FTX Group when the company filed for bankruptcy. Previously, he took over as chairman of Enron after it filed for bankruptcy and was tasked with recovering money for creditors.
The Firms and Tokens
FTX Group: There are three main companies in FTX Group, all founded and majority-owned by Mr. Bankman-Fried: FTX, a crypto exchange based in the Bahamas; FTX US, a U.S.-based crypto exchange; and Alameda Research. FTX lent billions of dollars of customer assets to Alameda, and many customers are now unable to get their money out of FTX. All three companies are part of the FTX bankruptcy filing.
FTT: A cryptocurrency created as part of FTX’s trading network. FTX customers could use it and get discounts on trading and other perks. A CoinDesk report on Nov. 2 said that much of Alameda’s balance sheet was made up of FTT, sparking a crisis of confidence that included Mr. Zhao’s move at Binance. Investors worried that any large selling orders would cause FTT’s price to plummet.
Binance: The industry giant, processing roughly half of all crypto trades. It was an early investor in FTX, though friction grew between the two exchanges and their founders. In October, Mr. Bankman-Fried made a comment on Twitter, later deleted, implying Mr. Zhao couldn’t come to the U.S. because of reported investigations into Binance. In November, Mr. Zhao tweeted, “We won’t support people who lobby against other industry players behind their backs."
Binance on Nov. 8 agreed to potentially acquire FTX. It walked away a day later, saying FTX’s problems were too big.
BlockFi: Crypto-lending platform that struggled during the crypto selloff this year. The company got a financial lifeline from FTX this summer, and the deal also gave FTX an option to purchase BlockFi. BlockFi paused withdrawals last week, citing the problems at FTX. More recently, it has been preparing a potential bankruptcy filing.
Voyager Digital: A leading crypto-lending platform that filed for bankruptcy in July. FTX won an auction for its assets in September. Voyager is now looking for a new buyer.
Other FTX Players
The following people worked at FTX before its collapse. The Journal wasn’t able to confirm whether all of them still do.
Sam Trabucco: He was co-CEO of Alameda, along with Ms. Ellison, until he stepped down in August. He said on Twitter at the time that working at Alameda had been “difficult and exhausting and consuming."
Brett Harrison: He was president of FTX US until he stepped down in September. In a series of tweets at the time, he offered little detail on the reasons for his departure.
Gary Wang: FTX’s chief technology officer. A former employee at Google, he co-founded FTX with Mr. Bankman-Fried. FTX Foundation board member with Ms. Ellison and Nishad Singh, FTX’s director of engineering.
Ramnik Arora: His title was “head of product" at FTX. He joined FTX in October 2020, and was a project manager and research scientist at Facebook before that. The Journal reported that he has quit. The firm’s chief regulatory officer, Dan Friedberg, and its head of institutional sales, Zane Tackett, have also quit.
Ryan Salame: Worked at Alameda and FTX since 2019. Was most recently listed as co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets.
Mark Wetjen: A former commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission nominated by President Barack Obama, he joined FTX in November 2021 as head of policy and regulatory strategy. In 2014, he wrote an op-ed for the Journal on the need for the CFTC to regulate bitcoin.
Ryne Miller: General counsel at FTX US. Spent eight years at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Zach Dexter: Chief executive of a derivatives platform called LedgerX, which FTX acquired in 2021. LedgerX wasn’t part of the FTX bankruptcy filing and is maintaining normal operations, Mr. Dexter said last week on Twitter.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text
