FTX Future Fund’s leadership quit on Thursday in an open letter that was shared on Twitter by journalist Teddy Schleifer, one of the exchange giant’s charitable arms. The letter stated,
“Devastated that it looks like there are many committed grants that the Future Fund will be unable to honor.”
The letter went on to say that they were sorry this situation had arisen and that, to the extent that the FTX leadership may have acted dishonestly or deceitfully, they strongly condemn that conduct. They also think that acting honestly and morally involves trying to be a decent actor in the world.
The judgment intensifies the effects of FTX’s severe liquidity issues. Following allegations that the balance sheet of its sister business, Alameda Research, included an excessive amount of FTX’s FTT token, the company came under fire last week.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of FTX, has made promises to contribute a sizable portion of his money and to make sizable corporate gifts in an effort to position himself as the “most generous billionaire” in the world. The exchange operated two charitable entities.
Fate Of FTX Future Fund investment of $1B
Traditional charity The FTX Foundation has contributed to projects addressing pollution, climate change, and health. In areas including biosecurity and AI safety, the FTX Future Fund has backed moonshot initiatives aimed at “long-term improvements for humanity.” The global exchange announced in March that it would invest $1 billion through the Future Fund at a pace of $100 million annually.
The team will support both for-profit and nonprofit endeavors, according to the release, as long as they are in line with the fund’s objective, which includes preserving the environment and protecting future generations. Additionally, the fund seeks out initiatives that advance technological development.
The company emphasizes that it wants to support “massively scalable” initiatives. This was described as “projects that could grow to productively spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars per year.”
Some believed that Web3 riches would fuel a new wave of generosity during the bull market, just like Web2 money did when it came to establishing institutions like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bankman-personal Fried’s fortune has decreased by about 94% due to the swift devaluation of FTX and FTT, and he disappeared from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index earlier this week. Given how one well-known VC who invested in FTX marked down its investment value to zero, he might be worth even less at this point.
