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Sam Bankman-Fried, creator of the FTX exchange, is always aiming higher and surpassing himself. The 28-year-old CEO is estimated to have accumulated the equivalent of $10 billion in cryptocurrencies in just 3 years. How did he build this fortune?
Founder of the FTX exchange and Alameda Research, Sam Bankman-Fried is best known for having made his fortune in a very short period of time thanks to cryptocurrencies. In 2018, SBF is a 25-year-old mathematician looking for new opportunities and is starting to take an interest in cryptocurrencies after leaving Wall Street.
At that time, the world of cryptocurrencies was buzzing with excitement over the discovery of the 10% difference in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) in Japan compared to the rest of the world. Extremely focused by this arbitrage opportunity, most of the cryptosphere missed another great opportunity: the premium kimchi. With a 30% BTC price differential between the Korean and US platforms, SBF was quick to take advantage of this by expanding its portfolio.
Bankman-Fried then moved to Japan to be closer to Seoul. Its objective is to set up a system that will allow the purchase of bitcoins to convert them into dollars without having to go directly through Korea, whose currency is restricted and difficult to convert. He achieved this with the help of a few friends and by using the company Alameda Research that he founded in 2017. According to New York Magazine, the company created by SBF would have managed to reach a volume of 25 million dollars per day through intermediaries and some local banks.
Alameda Research’s empire now totals more than $2 billion a day in terms of volume. However, SBF is focusing all its attention on the development of FTX, a platform for exchanging cryptocurrencies.
In his interview with New York Magazine, Sam Bankman-Fried reveals that he would have earned more than $10 billion in cryptocurrencies in just 3 years.
Sam Bankman-Fried moved to Hong Kong at the end of 2018 to embark on his new business project: FTX. Established in 2019, the FTX trading platform has been popular for some time.
SBF currently owns 50% of FTX. The listed company also has its own cryptocurrency: the FTX Token (FTT). With an increase of more than 120% since last month, the FTT has not gone unnoticed in recent days. The FTT has reached 20 dollars at the time of writing and its value has been rising steadily for the last few days.
During the U.S. election campaign last November, SBF had already attracted media attention following its $5.2 million donation in support of Joe Biden. As a result of this action, Bankman-Fried was named second on a list of CEOs who supported Joe Biden in the election in the Wall Street Journal.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s popularity continues to grow and FTX’s business appears to be impacted by this. Will FTX’s share price continue to climb in the coming weeks?