Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried apologized or admitted failure at least 12 times during his appearance at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Nov. 30.
In a wide-ranging video interview, Bankman-Fried was asked to answer a number of questions surrounding the downfall of
Bankman Fried was asked what his lawyers are telling him at the moment, and whether it was a good idea for him to be speaking publicly. He answered “very much not.”
“I mean, you know, the classic advice, don’t say anything […] recede into a hole.”
Bankman-Fried said he believes he has a duty to talk to people and explain what happened and to “try and do what’s right.”
“I don’t see what good is accomplished by me just sitting locked in a room pretending the outside world doesn’t exist,” he explained.
‘Soft-balled it,’ says community
While the interview appeared to cover a number of confronting issues for Bankman-Fried, some in the community still believe that the questions were not challenging enough, nor was there an adequate follow-up to some of the hard-hitting questions.
A Twitter poll launched by a self-proclaimed crypto trader “Cantering Clark” found that more than half of the 1,119 respondents believed Sorkin “Soft-balled” the interview with Bankman-Fried.