Overview
- Zhao released the memoir Wednesday, laying out his account of how FTX unraveled and what Binance did as events moved fast.
- He writes that Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison’s public $22 bid for FTT, FTX’s exchange token, signaled a floor that traders shorted through, helping drive a sharp drop and about $6 billion in withdrawals over 72 hours.
- He says Binance signed a nonbinding letter of intent only to review FTX’s books and then walked away on November 9, 2022 after Sam Bankman‑Fried asked for several billion dollars.
- He discloses an “Exchange Collaboration” Signal chat with other exchange chiefs that later drew DOJ and SEC scrutiny, and he denies any collusion or market manipulation.
- He recounts pleading guilty in 2024 to a Bank Secrecy Act charge as Binance paid $4.3 billion in fines while he served four months in custody, and he describes Binance handling a $7 billion withdrawal day that December with customer funds in reserve.