CZ Memoir Details FTX Collapse: SBF Asked for Billions 'Like a Bologna Sandwich'

According to CoinDesk, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) writes in his memoir Freedom of Money, released Tuesday, that he never seriously intended to acquire FTX during its November 2022 collapse, describing Sam Bankman-Fried's funding request as made "nonchalantly, as if he were asking for a bologna sandwich," and characterizing the non-binding letter of intent as a formality to assess user protection options. CZ identifies Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison's public offer to buy FTT at $22 as a "fatal mistake" that gave professional traders a floor price to short, sending the token from $22 to $5 and triggering $6 billion in outflows within 72 hours. He also discloses a Signal group called "Exchange Collaboration," set up by FTX's Zane Tackett during the Terra/LUNA collapse, including executives from Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and FTX, which later drew DOJ and SEC scrutiny; CZ denies any collusion. A subsequent bank run on Binance saw $7 billion withdrawn in a single day on Dec. 14, 2022, which CZ says was fully backed by reserves and reversed within a month.