As FTX failed, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao became concerned that its then-boss Sam Bankman-Fried was making actions that may crash the entire sector and attempted to stop him, according to the New York Times.
According to a Friday report cited by NYT, Zhao asked Sam Bankman-Fried to refrain from making trades that he feared would aggravate the crypto crisis caused by FTX’s collapse.
In a group chat with Sam Bankman-Fried and others, Zhao typed, “Stop now, don’t cause more damage.”
“The more damage you do now, the more jail time.”
Text messages revealed that Zhao accused FTX’s sister trading arm, Alameda Research, of attempting to take the price of stablecoin Tether below its $1 value. Analysts have continually warned that if Tether collapses, there will be a wider crypto crash.
Zhao cited Sam Bankman-Fried arranged a suspicious $250,000 trade by Alameda that he suspected to depeg Tether. But the FTX founder refutes these claims citing the absurdity of these charges, according to NYT.
“My honest advice: stop doing everything,” Zhao told him in response. “Put on a suit, and go back to DC, and start to answer questions.”
Zhao and Sam Bankman-Fried were not immediately available to reply to the business insider’s inquiry. In early November, a day before FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Insider sent some messages. Since then, Zhao described Sam Bankman-Fried as “one of the greatest fraudsters in history.”
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US Federal Authorities, among others, are looking into claims about Bankman-Fried for mishandling tens of billions in FTX customer funds.
Bankman-Fried is now under investigation for allegedly manipulating the price of TerraUSD and Luna. Authorities are looking into whether he took any actions to favor FTX and Alameda by influencing the prices of TerraUSD and Luna.
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