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According to a recent report published by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), cryptocurrency executives were allegedly concerned that Sam Bankman Fried’s (SBF) Alameda Research was trying to “depeg stablecoins.” Purportedly, high-up executives from crypto exchanges are members of a Signal chat group called “Exchange coordination,” and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) ostensibly told SBF to stop causing “more damage.”
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that just before the crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy, there was a conversation between CZ and SBF on Nov. 10, 2022, in a Signal chat group called “Exchange coordination.” The Signal group’s chat logs were apparently seen by the WSJ and high up crypto execs like Tether’s CTO Paolo Ardoino and Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell are purportedly members of the group.
The WSJ report details that SBF was accused of trying to destabalize stablecoins and more specifically tether (USDT). “A Tether official and the head of the world’s largest crypto exchange grew alarmed that Sam Bankman-Fried was trying to destabilize the stablecoin,” the WSJ reporters Patricia Kowsmann, Alexander Osipovich and Caitlin Ostroff allege. However, in a statement made to the WSJ, SBF denied the claims made in the report about the Signal chat conversation.
Kowsmann, Osipovich and Ostroff detail that Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao confronted SBF about the alleged depegging attempts. “Stop trying to depeg stablecoins,” CZ is cited as saying. “And stop doing anything. Stop now, don’t cause more damage.”
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has recently agreed to testify in front of U.S. Congress and he also discussed the idea of launching a new FTT token with crypto proponent Ran Neuner on Dec. 9. Additionally, revelations released this weekend indicate that The Block CEO Michael McCaffrey was secretly given more than $43 million from SBF’s Alameda Research. Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary also revealed this past Thursday that he was paid $15 million to be a spokesperson for FTX.
