FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried expressed remorse in his first interview since being sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of defrauding customers of his bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.
"It's most of what I think about each day," the one-time billionaire told ABC News of his actions via email from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, acknowledging FTX's downfall was the result of several "bad decisions" he made in 2022, the year the platform collapsed.
He said that "of course" he is remorseful.
During his sentencing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said Bankman-Fried showed no remorse over FTX customers losing some $8 billion, FTX's equity investors losing $1.7 billion and lenders to the Alameda Research hedge fund Bankman-Fried founded losing $1.3 billion as a result of FTX's collapse.
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"I've heard and seen the despair, frustration and sense of betrayal from thousands of customers; they deserve to be paid in full, at current price," Bankman-Fried wrote to ABC News. "That could and should have happened in November 2022, and it could and should happen today. It's excruciating to see them waiting, day after day."
"I'm haunted, every day, by what was lost," Bankman-Fried went on to tell the outlet. "I never intended to hurt anyone or take anyone's money. But I was the CEO of FTX, I was responsible for what happened to the company, and when you're responsible it doesn't matter why it goes bad."
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"I'd give anything to be able to help repair even part of the damage," he added. "I'm doing what I can from prison, but it's deeply frustrating not to be able to do more."
Bankman-Fried, 32, was found guilty in November on two counts of wire fraud and five counts of conspiracy following the collapse of his crypto empire FTX in November 2022, which has been compared to Enron. The exchange had merged assets with sister hedge fund Alameda Research amid cash problems, leading waves of customers to withdraw funds. Bankman-Fried was indicted the next month.
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Referring to his FTX colleagues, Bankman-Fried told the judge last week, "They put a lot of themselves into it, and I threw that all away. It haunts me every day."
FOX Business' Suzanne O'Halloran contributed to this report.
