Sam Bankman-Fried, the former boss of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has denied fraud.
Making his first public appearance since the crash, the man once hailed as the ‘King of Crypto’ told JEE News that he had a “bad month” and had almost no money left. .
FTX went bust last month, once valued at $32bn (£26.5bn).
Many investors have now been unable to withdraw their funds from the bankrupt world exchange.
Mr Bankman Fried, 30, also said his lawyers had advised him not to speak publicly but he had ignored them.
He himself denied transferring any personal money from FTX — saying he now has “nothing.”
He said he was left with a credit card debt of about $100,000.
In the interview he said he did not intentionally mislead investors, adding: “I never tried to defraud.”
However, when repeatedly asked about the details of the movement of money between FTX and other entities, including the trading firm it owns, Alameda Research, he was at times vague on the details.
He also said the company is involved in “greenwashing” where firms engage in environmental projects for publicity.
Mr Bankman-Fried was once seen as a younger version of the legendary US investor Warren Buffett, and as recently as late October his net worth was estimated at more than $15bn.
