Changpeng Zhao Says FTX Letter Was a Formality, Calls $22 Offer a "Fatal Mistake"
According to CZ, Binance’s November 2022 FTX letter of intent was only for evaluation, while Sam Bankman-Fried had sought billions and a $22 FTT buyback proposal preceded heavy outflows.
Fact Check
The central claim is supported by the validated CoinDesk article, 'CZ says SBF asked for billions 'like a Bologna sandwich' as FTX collapsed,' which explicitly says CZ described Binance’s November 2022 FTX letter of intent as a pure formality for evaluation and called the public $22 FTT offer a 'fatal mistake.' PANews and BlockBeats both align with and summarize the same points, reinforcing that this is the reported substance of CZ’s account. However, confidence is only medium because the strongest evidence available in this run is still mediated through CoinDesk’s reporting on CZ’s memoir rather than a directly fetched excerpt from the memoir or a validated direct CZ post.
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Summary
Changpeng Zhao said Binance’s November 2022 non-binding letter of intent to acquire FTX was signed only to evaluate the situation rather than as a commitment to complete a rescue deal. He said Sam Bankman-Fried had asked Binance for billions before the attempted acquisition. Zhao also said roughly $6 billion left FTX within 72 hours after Caroline Ellison proposed buying back FTT at $22, which he described as a critical error during the exchange’s collapse.
Terms & Concepts
- Letter of intent: A preliminary document outlining proposed deal terms before a binding agreement is finalized.
- FTT: FTX’s exchange token, which played a central role in the platform’s balance sheet concerns during its 2022 collapse.
- FTX: A cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in 2022 after a severe liquidity crisis and bankruptcy filing.