According to a top official at OKX, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried requested a $2 billion to $4 billion capital infusion from OKX; right before the news of the now-defunct purchase proposed by archrival Binance. Lennix Lai, director of financial markets at OKX, said that the CEO of the struggling exchange had expressed “a lot of urgency” in requesting that kind of cash infusion during a call on November 8.
This would have helped FTX escape a temporary liquidity crisis. According to Lai, who cited the request for funding came as FTX was looking at a $7 billion overall liability.
In response to a flood of withdrawal requests, FTX has approached OKX about a settlement, according to Lai, who cited his conversations with Bankman-Fried on November 8.
Lai described their talk from a subsequent call at 7 a.m. Hong Kong time: “If FTX does not get a quick financial infusion, they would go bankrupt.” Sam requested an immediate decision from us since he was in contact with a few other possible investors, he stated.