- Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz says FTX CEO was “Delusional”.
- He predicts that SBF will be prosecuted and jailed.
- Novogratz also backed out of his $500,000 price prediction for Bitcoin.
Speaking at an interview with CNBC, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz termed the FTX fiasco “a crisis of confidence” and thrashed its CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), arguing that recent events had eroded investors’ faith in the financial markets.
“It’s kind of surprising that his lawyers are letting him speak,” Novogratz said on Bloomberg, adding that after he watched two of SBF’s interviews, the word “delusional” kept coming to his mind.
Novogratz’s comments came following Sam Bankman-Fried’s appearance in the New York Times (NYT) Dealbook. He argued that the former FTX CEO should be prosecuted and predicted that “he will spend time in jail.”
The CEO continued that bringing criminal charges against those responsible for the misdeeds at FTX will benefit the cryptocurrency sector and the whole financial sector. “I’m hoping that the authorities get to the bottom of this faster,” Novogratz stated. Adding that it’s “not just for the sanctity of the crypto markets but for all markets.”
“Markets are predicated on trust, and when you have trust violated like this, it questions everyone else,” Novogratz added.
The CEO also mentioned the exchange’s sloppy balance sheet and the simple blunder of conflating FTX and Alameda finances as a result of the lack of an in-house accounting staff. He added that any platform dealing with digital assets should have transparent terms and conditions and never lend out consumer funds without first getting consent.
However, Novogratz believes that recent events would actually turn out to be an “opportunity for growth” over the long run. He went on to state that Bitcoin is not “going away” and blamed the FTX CEO for the current state of the market.
Meanwhile, Novogratz has backtracked from his previous prediction that Bitcoin would hit a whopping $500,000 in the next five years. Appearing in a Bloomberg interview, the CEO said this target was no longer possible, citing the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases. It will, but “not in five years,” Novogratz said.
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