1 big thing: SBF on what was real, what was BS

2. The BFD: SBF's Dealbook denials

3. Credit score

Illustration of a credit score meter with emoji faces showing sad, neutral, and happy emotions.

4. Deals of the day

5. It's personnel

Good morning, fintech friends. Can you believe it's December already?

Situational awareness: The U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis has released a staff report alleging waste, fraud, and abuse related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

In particular, the panel found that some fintech lenders, given the task of identifying fraudulent PPP applications, may have committed fraud themselves.

Thanks to Michael Flaherty for editing and Carlos Cunha for copy editing this newsletter.

And thank you for reading Axios Pro Fintech Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues, and Senators to sign up! 

Fintech Deals

1. SBF on failure

Illustration of the silhouette of Sam Bankman-Fried crumbling and falling. 

2. SBF on his future

Photo Illustration of Elizabeth Holmes and Sam Bankman-Fried with eyes and rectangles behind them

3. SBF's personal finances

Photo illustration of Sam Bankman-Fried with downward arrows and abstract shapes.

4. Alameda's Twitter stake

Photo illustration of Sam Bankman-Fried with hair made out of Twitter logos. 

5. Credit score

Illustration of positive and negative trend lines coming out of center point.

6. Deals of the day

Situational awareness: Lucinda was able to speak on the phone with Sam Bankman-Fried. Buckle up, and see below for what she gathered. 

🙏🏿 you for reading! FYI, SBF is speaking (virtually) at the New York Times Dealbook event today at 4:55 pm EST. The title of the interview session: What Happened?

1 big thing: BlockFi files for bankruptcy 

Illustration of a business person standing on a crumbling cryptocoin.

Atom Bank pushes back IPO

2. The BFD: Atom Bank pushes back IPO

Illustration of a digitized bank building with arms shrugging.

Illustration of a credit card headed towards a goal post to score a touchdown.

Happy Monday, fintech friends. We're back!

And thank you for reading Axios Pro Fintech Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues, and bankruptcy lawyers to sign up!

1 big thing: BlockFi's bad loan

Illustration of a sad face on a digital, pixelated coin

Web3 got more interest than fintech before FTX blowup

2. The BFD: Web3 over fintech — for now

Illustration of a pattern of hands trading tokens.

Illustration of a Scrabble board with letter tiles spelling "credit."

Situational awareness: India is launching a pilot program for the introduction of a retail digital currency, starting on Dec. 1, according to its central bank. 

And thank you for reading Axios Pro Fintech Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues, and risk management teams to sign up!

1. BlockFi files for bankruptcy 

2. Bad loan BlockFi 

3. SBF, the interview 

4. SBF says he "didn't knowingly commingle funds"

Good morning, Fintech friends. What a week. Let's get right to the digest. 

✍️ Michael Flaherty here, saying thank you for reading this week's digest. Please send us tips and thoughts on where the crypto contagion goes from here, and where the next shoe may drop. 

Top early stage investors during the third quarter of the year were still more excited about DeFi and web3 than about all other industries, according to Pitchbook's Tuesday Emerging Tech Indicator.

Why it matters: This comes after the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and the Terra stablecoin ecosystem — meaning a sizable cohort of long-term crypto believers still remain in venture capital. 

Details: Pitchbook found that its venture investors top 15 (defined by exits, and by percentage of companies that raise subsequent rounds of capital) put the most capital into web3 and DeFi companies for the fifth consecutive quarter.

They invested $879 million across 24 early stage deals in the space, beating out categories like fintech and biotech. 

Yes, but: The industry is still waiting to see how FTX's blowup will affect startups looking to raise funding. The bankruptcy created a contagion effect and took out FTX as an active investor across the space.

"We expect the recent failure of FTX will lead to a decline in early stage cryptocurrency investing in coming quarters," the analysts wrote.

The two biggest crypto deals of the third quarter involving these venture investors were Mysten Labs and Aptos Labs — both of which also raised rounds led by FTX Ventures. That means web3's five quarter streak may already be dead.

Fintech

Top early stage investors during the third quarter of the year were still more excited about DeFi and web3 than about all other industries, according to Pitchbook&#x27;s Tuesday <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Emerging Tech Indicator" data-vars-click-url="https://files.pitchbook.com/website/files/pdf/Q3_2022_Emerging_Tech_Indicator.pdf" data-vars-content-id="2c06be86-290c-4505-a24d-14dc0b51bbaf" data-vars-headline="Web3 got more interest than fintech before FTX blowup" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://files.pitchbook.com/website/files/pdf/Q3_2022_Emerging_Tech_Indicator.pdf" target="_blank">Emerging Tech Indicator</a>.Why it matters: This comes after the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and the Terra stablecoin ecosystem — meaning a sizable cohort of long-term crypto believers still remain in venture capital.

In his scathing review of FTX's business, John Ray III, the company's new CEO and the person in charge of its restructuring, said founder Sam Bankman-Fried ran the business as his "personal fiefdom." 

In an interview with Axios, Bankman-Fried didn't disagree.

Why it matters: The interview that Bankman-Fried gave shed light on the failings that led to the company's implosion.

Of note: Bankman-Fried is the founder of FTX, a company worth $40 billion not so long ago. He now faces allegations of fraud and mismanagement and says he wishes he had put in place a third party between his trading firm, Alameda Research, and FTX. 

"There's certainly an extent to which that I wish there had been someone who wasn't me who was in charge of managing conflicts of interest," he said over the phone. "I wish that I had more reporting and transparency to outside parties."

He said that he was responsible for not putting someone in that position.

The intrigue: Bankman-Fried said he has not been in contact with Ray, though he has reached out to people managing the bankruptcy process. Ray notably has also sought to distance FTX from Bankman-Fried. 

“I offered up my services, my help, to any of the global regulators, administrators who are working to try and do what they can," Bankman-Fried said. "As of now, there has not been much contact coming from the U.S. team.”

Details: While FTX did have audits, the legitimacy of the work done by those external firms has been called into question as leaked FTX figures have been shown to be unreliable.

Bankman-Fried's heavy risk-taking and conflicts of interest had also come into question very early on, even among his co-workers. Alameda's co-founder, Tara MacAulay, said this month on Twitter that she quit in April 2018 in part due to concerns over "risk management and business ethics."

The overarching company did not give any of its investors a board seat, nor did it hire a CFO, a lack of corporate governance that investors overlooked when the company was booming.

“In terms of boards? I think it's a little more complicated than that. we actually had a lot of boards," he said. "There's a board of directors of FTX Japan, there's a board of directors of FTX Australia, board of directors of, you know, in Europe. A board of directors of U.S. derivatives. We had dozens.”

The lack of barriers between Bankman-Fried's various companies and equity stakes magnified the damage to the crypto economy earlier this year — something the fallen CEO says he regrets.

When FTX failed, it also meant that assets associated with FTX, like the Solana ecosystem, suffered more than ethereum or bitcoin.

"I was frequently building and running reports around the volume distribution on FTX. I should have been doing the same thing around distribution, position distribution, assets balances," he said. "I screwed it up in underestimating what happens in a hyper-correlated market premise." 

Of note: Bankman-Fried's parents are the named owners of a $16.4 million vacation home in the Bahamas, according to Reuters, raising the question of self-dealing. 

"I don't know the details of how they became listed there. But those are always intended to be company properties," he said, regarding his parents and the Bahamas real estate.

Zoom in: Bankman-Fried says he knows nothing of an alleged backdoor that allowed Alameda to bypass FTX's liquidation protocols, for example. 

This matters, because prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bankman-Fried had knowledge of or intent to commit fraud, Axios' Matt Phillips reports, may well be a legal strategy.

Zoom out: Many have pointed to the parallels between Bankman-Fried's story and that of Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos who was sentenced to 11 years in jail. Both were media darlings who, at their height, graced the covers of business magazines and were lauded as young — though quirky — geniuses. 

And, like Holmes, Bankman-Fried is now facing potential criminal fraud charges and innumerable lawsuits. No charges have been brought against FTX or Bankman-Fried yet, though many speculate he may also face jail time.

"I have not, no," he said, when asked if he had followed the Holmes trial. 

When asked if he's considered the possibility that he may one day be facing jail time, he answered: "I have conversations with legal. But I'm trying to focus on what I can do now. There's a time and a place for I thinking more about my own personal future."

The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried

The FTX founder says he wished he had assigned someone to manage conflicts of interest.

Photo illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios. Photo: Lam Yik/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In his scathing review of FTX&#x27;s business, John Ray III, the company&#x27;s new CEO and the person in charge of its restructuring, said founder Sam Bankman-Fried ran the business as his &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="personal fiefdom" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/22/ftx-bankruptcy-judge-privacy-customers" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/22/ftx-bankruptcy-judge-privacy-customers" target="_self">personal fiefdom</a>.&quot; In an interview with Axios, Bankman-Fried didn&#x27;t disagree.Why it matters: The interview that Bankman-Fried gave shed light on the failings that led to the company&#x27;s implosion.Of note: Bankman-Fried is the founder of FTX, a company worth $40 billion not so long ago. He now faces allegations of fraud and mismanagement and says he wishes he had put in place a third party between his trading firm, Alameda Research, and FTX. <ul><li>&quot;There&#x27;s certainly an extent to which that I wish there had been someone who wasn&#x27;t me who was in charge of managing conflicts of interest,&quot; he said over the phone. &quot;I wish that I had more reporting and transparency to outside parties.&quot;</li><li>He said that he was responsible for not putting someone in that position.</li></ul>The intrigue: Bankman-Fried said he has not been in contact with Ray, though he has reached out to people managing the bankruptcy process. Ray notably has also sought to distance FTX from Bankman-Fried. <ul><li>“I offered up my services, my help, to any of the global regulators, administrators who are working to try and do what they can,&quot; Bankman-Fried said. &quot;As of now, there has not been much contact coming from the U.S. team.”</li></ul>Details: While FTX did have audits, the legitimacy of the work done by those <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="external firms" data-vars-click-url="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/11/meet-the-metaverse-night-clubloving-audit-firm-that-presided-over-ftxs-financials/" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/11/meet-the-metaverse-night-clubloving-audit-firm-that-presided-over-ftxs-financials/" target="_blank">external firms</a> has been called into question as leaked FTX figures have been shown to be unreliable.<ul><li>Bankman-Fried&#x27;s heavy risk-taking and conflicts of interest had also come into question very early on, even among his co-workers. Alameda&#x27;s co-founder, Tara MacAulay, said this month <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="on Twitter" data-vars-click-url="https://twitter.com/Tara_MacAulay/status/1592985303262072834" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://twitter.com/Tara_MacAulay/status/1592985303262072834" target="_blank">on Twitter</a> that she quit in April 2018 in part due to concerns over &quot;risk management and business ethics.&quot;</li><li>The overarching company did not give any of its investors a board seat, nor did it hire a CFO, a lack of corporate governance that investors overlooked when the company was booming.</li><li>“In terms of boards? I think it&#x27;s a little more complicated than that. we actually had a lot of boards,&quot; he said. &quot;There&#x27;s a board of directors of FTX Japan, there&#x27;s a board of directors of FTX Australia, board of directors of, you know, in Europe. A board of directors of U.S. derivatives. We had dozens.”</li></ul>The lack of barriers between Bankman-Fried&#x27;s various companies and equity stakes magnified the damage to the crypto economy earlier this year — something the fallen CEO says he regrets.<ul><li>When FTX failed, it also meant that assets associated with FTX, like the Solana ecosystem, suffered more than ethereum or bitcoin.</li><li>&quot;I was frequently building and running reports around the volume distribution on FTX. I should have been doing the same thing around distribution, position distribution, assets balances,&quot; he said. &quot;I screwed it up in underestimating what happens in a hyper-correlated market premise.&quot; </li></ul>Of note: Bankman-Fried&#x27;s parents are the named owners of a $16.4 million vacation home in the Bahamas, according to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Reuters" data-vars-click-url="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-bankman-frieds-ftx-parents-bought-bahamas-property-worth-121-mln-2022-11-22/" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-bankman-frieds-ftx-parents-bought-bahamas-property-worth-121-mln-2022-11-22/" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, raising the question of self-dealing. <ul><li>&quot;I don&#x27;t know the details of how they became listed there. But those are always intended to be company properties,&quot; he said, regarding his parents and the Bahamas real estate.</li></ul>Zoom in: Bankman-Fried says he knows nothing of an <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="alleged backdoor" data-vars-click-url="https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/exclusive-least-1-billion-client-funds-missing-failed-crypto-firm-ftx-sources-2022-11-12/" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/exclusive-least-1-billion-client-funds-missing-failed-crypto-firm-ftx-sources-2022-11-12/" target="_blank">alleged backdoor</a> that allowed Alameda to bypass FTX&#x27;s liquidation protocols, for example. <ul><li>This matters, because prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bankman-Fried had knowledge of or intent to commit fraud, Axios&#x27; Matt Phillips <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/16/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-incompetence-legal-strategy" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/16/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-incompetence-legal-strategy" target="_self">reports</a>, may well be a legal strategy.</li></ul>Zoom out: Many have pointed to the parallels between Bankman-Fried&#x27;s story and that of Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="who was sentenced" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/18/elizabeth-holmes-fraud-trial-prison-sentence" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/18/elizabeth-holmes-fraud-trial-prison-sentence" target="_self">who was sentenced</a> to 11 years in jail. Both were media darlings who, at their height, graced the covers of business magazines and were lauded as young — though quirky — geniuses. <ul><li>And, like Holmes, Bankman-Fried is now facing <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="potential criminal fraud" data-vars-click-url="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3748226-senate-democrats-call-for-criminal-investigation-of-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried/https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-probes-ftx-over-handling-client-funds-bloomberg-news-2022-11-09/" data-vars-content-id="4f998341-6dfe-4d4c-874f-de6598c4a8c5" data-vars-headline="The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3748226-senate-democrats-call-for-criminal-investigation-of-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried/https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-probes-ftx-over-handling-client-funds-bloomberg-news-2022-11-09/" target="_blank">potential criminal fraud</a> charges and innumerable lawsuits. No charges have been brought against FTX or Bankman-Fried yet, though many speculate he may also face jail time.</li><li>&quot;I have not, no,&quot; he said, when asked if he had followed the Holmes trial. </li><li>When asked if he&#x27;s considered the possibility that he may one day be facing jail time, he answered: &quot;I have conversations with legal. But I&#x27;m trying to focus on what I can do now. There&#x27;s a time and a place for I thinking more about my own personal future.&quot;</li></ul>

National

Sam Bankman-Fried had $100,000 left in his bank account last time he checked. In an interview, the former FTX CEO pointed to both personal failures and regulatory gaps to help explain the implosion of his company.  

Why it matters: Bankman-Fried's late Monday phone interview with Axios comes as FTX is working through a messy bankruptcy process and the company's creditors remain in the dark about what, if anything, they will be able to recoup.

What he's saying: "Am I allowed to say a negative number?" he said, when asked about his personal finances. "I mean, I have no idea. I don't know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked," he said. 

"It's complicated. Basically everything I had was just tied up in the company," he added. 

His personal wealth at one point reached $26.5 billion.

Yes, but: Bankman-Fried said regulation and proper oversight could have helped protect FTX from its collapse.

"I think one thing is... if you looked at the reporting, and CFTC applications, that would have been extremely helpful here on international rigor," Bankman-Fried said.

"There's certainly an extent to which that I wish there had been someone who wasn't me who was in charge of managing conflicts of interest," he said, in a nod to the bankruptcy court claim that he ran FTX like a personal fiefdom. 

"I wish that I had more reporting and transparency to outside parties."

Zoom in: Bankman-Fried, however, added that he bears the brunt of the blame. 

"I wish I'd been more careful... I obviously deeply regret this. I've been focusing on volume, rather than positions for balances," he said. "I should have been more responsible, and I should have been more on top of what was going on."

Bottom line: Investors and creditors have their share of regrets as well, given the tens of billions in market value that was wiped out in a matter of days. 

Read more from this interview in tomorrow's Axios Pro Fintech Deals

Sam Bankman-Fried doesn't know what happened to his Twitter stake 

Judge in FTX case grants privacy to customers, for now

FTX starts bankruptcy proceedings and Bankman-Fried resigns as CEO

Exclusive: Sam Bankman-Fried says he's down to $100,000

The former CEO tells Axios about what helped lead to FTX's collapse.

Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Economy & Business

Sam Bankman-Fried admits in an interview with Axios that FTX's multitude of licenses were "corporate bullshit," but swears his effective altruism quest was genuine.

Why it matters: Regulators, lawyers, creditors and prosecutors are digging through the rubble of bankrupt FTX trying to determine whether Bankman-Fried was lying or just in over his head.

Background: The FTX founder and former CEO crafted an image as a rumpled, slightly mad wunderkind, napping on office beanbags and wearing shorts to meetings.

Bankman-Fried's most defining feature, however, was his dedication to effective altruism (EA). His main goal, he has said, was to make money and to give it away.

But that image fell into the blender in a recent Twitter DM conversation with Vox reporter Kelsey Piper, in which Bankman-Fried threw cold water on the virtue of being ethical.

What he's saying: In an Axios interview Monday night, Bankman-Fried acknowledged that part of his image was curated, but maintains that effective altruism was his driving force — even if the EA movement would prefer to disown him.

"The thing that was bullshit was not EA," said Bankman-Fried. "EA, I happen to care about deeply. I believe in blockchain and crypto. Those things are absolutely real."

His predilection for playing games in important meetings — most notably while trying to get Sequoia to invest millions into FTX — was also not a front, he says: "It helps me...clear my mind. It helps me keep my mind focused on what I'm doing."

Yes, but: Some things were bogus. For example, Bankman-Fried says FTX went too far with some of the licenses it acquired —licenses that created the image of being a highly regulated exchange.

"I think we probably went a little bit overboard on the number of licenses that we got," he says. "There were ones that we did that weren't ultimately meaningful. It was trying to brand yourself in a way that you wanted to be seen."

Notably, FTX spent some $2 billion on "acquisitions for regulatory purposes," according to documents seen by Reuters.

Of note: Bankman-Fried acknowledges that he has harmed the EA movement, having served as its most public face.

"I was hoping all the projects I would be able to fund would have a massive positive impact on the world. Now it looks like that might not end up happening," he said.

The implosion of FTX has opened EA up to criticisms that its comfort with taking big risks played a role in FTX recent blowup.

Bottom line: Bankman-Fried appears to be trying to create a new image, one where he's seen as transparent and unceasingly apologetic — as a founder who genuinely cared about his customers, but was incompetent rather than one who had intentionally committed fraud.

Go deeper: Sam Bankman-Fried says he's down to $100,000

Sam Bankman-Fried on what was real, what was "corporate bullshit"

FTX founder and former CEO acknowledges that part of his image was curated, but maintains that effective altruism was his driving force.

Illustration of a person in a suit holding an umbrella made of money

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Sam Bankman-Fried" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/29/sam-bankman-fried-100000-ftx-cftc-regulation" data-vars-content-id="a8a4a3a1-f589-45da-944b-f67df67d4b17" data-vars-headline="Sam Bankman-Fried on what was real, what was &quot;corporate bullshit&quot;" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/29/sam-bankman-fried-100000-ftx-cftc-regulation" target="_self">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> admits in an interview with Axios that FTX&#x27;s multitude of licenses were &quot;corporate bullshit,&quot; but swears his effective altruism quest was genuine.Why it matters: Regulators, lawyers, creditors and prosecutors are digging through the rubble of bankrupt FTX trying to determine whether Bankman-Fried was lying or just in over his head.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Sam Bankman-Fried tells Axios that he always intended to roll over at least a portion of his former firm's $100 million Twitter stake into the new, privately held entity led by Elon Musk. 

But the former FTX CEO said in an interview on Monday night that he's not sure that ever happened with the Alameda Research-controlled stake.  

Why it matters: It's the first time Bankman-Fried has addressed the question around his Twitter stake since Musk said last week that neither Bankman-Fried nor FTX ever held a position in the privatized Twitter, a statement that contradicted a Semafor news report.

Alameda Research, the entity that Bankman-Fried said owned the Twitter stake, is the trading firm that he controlled and is the entity at the center of FTX's implosion. A text message seen by Axios that Bankman-Fried sent to Musk said the Twitter stake Alameda owned was worth around $100 million. 

Details: "I believe that it was intended for Alameda to roll over at least $20 million or more," Bankman-Fried told Axios. "I don't know for sure whether that ultimately happened." 

Bankman-Fried noted that at least some of the Twitter stake may have been sold prior to Twitter going private, but he could not confirm.

Background: Bankman-Fried, through his advisers, had offered to help Musk buy out Twitter in the spring with potentially billions of dollars. But he later backed out of his offer after the two spoke by phone, Axios previously reported. 

Bankman-Fried said at the time that he was interested in rolling the stake into the privatized company, with Musk acknowledging that Bankman-Fried was "welcome to roll."

The intrigue: The Twitter stake was listed on a Nov. 10 balance sheet shown to prospective FTX investors before the company went bankrupt, according to the Financial Times.

The balance sheet, upon which Semafor also relied for its reporting, listed $43.3 million of Twitter stock as an illiquid deliverable — or sellable — asset. 

That suggests that Bankman-Fried, as of Nov. 10, either believed that Alameda owned a stake in Musk's Twitter, or that he was uncertain, and therefore misleading potential investors. 

Sam Bankman-Fried doesn't know what happened to his Twitter stake

He says he always intended to roll over at least a portion of his former firm's investment.

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sam Bankman-Fried tells Axios that he always intended to roll over at least a portion of his former firm&#x27;s $100 million Twitter stake into the new, privately held entity led by Elon Musk. <ul><li>But the former FTX CEO said in an interview on Monday night that he&#x27;s not sure that ever happened with the Alameda Research-controlled stake. </li></ul>Why it matters: It&#x27;s the first time Bankman-Fried has addressed the question around his Twitter stake since Musk said last week that neither Bankman-Fried nor FTX ever held a position in the privatized Twitter, a statement that contradicted <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="a Semafor news report" data-vars-click-url="https://www.semafor.com/article/11/22/2022/sam-bankman-fried-elon-and-a-secret-text" data-vars-content-id="a8d0aa11-0261-424a-ba33-a4e30d1c3e5d" data-vars-headline="Sam Bankman-Fried doesn&#x27;t know what happened to his Twitter stake" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.semafor.com/article/11/22/2022/sam-bankman-fried-elon-and-a-secret-text" target="_blank">a Semafor news report</a>.

Lucinda Shen

Stories

Sam Bankman-Fried on what was real, what was "corporate bullshit"

The failures of Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried doesn't know what happened to his Twitter stake

Exclusive: Sam Bankman-Fried says he's down to $100,000

Web3 got more interest than fintech before FTX blowup

Newsletter editions

Fintech: SBF's confessions

Fintech: SBF on BS

Fintech: The SBF interview

Fintech: BlockFi's imbroglio

Fintech: It's BlockFi's turn