In a recent article, the Wall Street Journal spoke to a number of FTX employees about the effect the crypto exchange’s collapse had on them. One executive threw up after learning that customers’ money was missing while others expressed anger and resentment towards crypto failure and Democrat super donor Sam Bankman-Fried.
The Wall Street Journal writes in an article titled “FTX’s Collapse Leaves Employees Sick With Anger,” that many FTX employees only learned of the crypto exchange’s collapse through media reports and their sudden inability to withdraw funds from the platform. Many employees reportedly received a portion of their pay in Bankman-Fried’s FTT tokens, which have crashed by 90 percent.
Breitbart News has reported extensively on the collapse of FTX. It was revealed recently that fifty of FTX’s biggest creditors are owed $3.1 billion by the exchange, which collapsed last week, according to a court filing. The exchange said in a recent court filing that it owed $1.45 billion to its top 10 debtors, with its largest creditor owed $226 million.
Now, the Wall Street Journal has provided a glimpse into the internal workings of the company and the reaction from employees and executives as the crypto exchange collapsed.
The WSJ writes:
One FTX executive vomited when he learned that the crypto exchange was missing billions of dollars of customer money. A company lawyer quit via a harsh text message to then-Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried. A top salesman who had bet big on FTX equity saw most of his wealth evaporate overnight.
What started as a dream job turned into a nightmare for employees of FTX, the crypto exchange that imploded in spectacular fashion last week. The Wall Street Journal spoke to more than a dozen current and former employees, many of whom said they were stunned by FTX’s swift demise and shocked by the alleged misuse of customer funds.
Nathaniel Whittemore, a former FTX marketing specialist who quit last week, told the WSJ: “You have to understand just how devastated the average FTX employee was. Not only did it seem they might be out of job, but they also were potentially facing the total loss of their savings. All I could think of was rage and white-hot anger.”
It was common at FTX for employees to hold FTX equity or receive part of their pay in FTT tokens. Last fall, Bankman-Fried offered employees the opportunity to buy shares in FTX at a 50 percent discount compared to what venture capitalists had paid in a recent funding round. That equity is now worthless and the value of FTT has crashed by 90 percent.
The WSJ reports that as of this past weekend, only a skeleton crew remained at FTX’s Bahamas headquarters, assisting new CEO John Ray III in attempts to secure funding to repay users.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
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