FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Says Firm Still Has $1,000,000,000 in Cash Left To Deploy for Acquisitions

The chief executive of crypto derivatives exchange FTX says that the company still has a sizable amount of cash left to burn on acquisitions.

In a new interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says the firm still has about $1 billion in cash on the sidelines ready to help ailing crypto firms.

“We did not try to empty the coffers, so to speak. We had a couple billion going into this, and it lines up roughly with the amount that we’ve raised over the last year and on top of that we’ve been profitable.”

When asked if he had about a $1 billion left to deploy, Bankman-Fried said,

“Yeah, and you have the issue of how much we really feel comfortable deploying seeing as there’s another ballpark billion that is completely unencumbered. [That] certainly would get you within a factor of two [of] the right answer.”

Following this year’s sharp market decline, FTX made investments in several firms in the crypto space, such as Anthony’s Scaramucci’s hedge fund SkyBridge Capital.

Last month, the CEO said that he wished other firms in the industry would step up to help him in saving companies hurt by the market downturn.

“It’s not going to be good for anyone long term if we have real pain, if we have real blowouts, and it’s not fair to customers. It’s not going to be good for regulations. It’s not going to be good for anything. From a longer-term perspective, it’s just that’s what was important for the ecosystem.

It’s important for people to be able to operate in the ecosystem without being terrified that unknown unknowns were going to blow them off somehow.”

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