Bankman-Fried Says He ‘Didn’t Stash Billions,’ Denies Theft (1)

Sam Bankman-Fried offered one of his most detailed descriptions yet of the FTX debacle as he prepares to fight fraud charges, blaming crashing markets and an attack from a rival for the eventual bankruptcy of his exchange.

“I didn’t steal funds, and I certainly didn’t stash billions away,” the former crypto magnate wrote in a blog post Thursday. “I’ve been, regrettably, slow to respond to public misperceptions and material misstatements.”

The latest version of events, drawing on Bankman-Fried’s memory of balance sheets at FTX and sister trading house Alameda Research, doesn’t go into accounting issues that he had earlier ...