Newsweek International - 13.03.2020

SamBankman-Fried,wearing

brownshortsandabrownt-shirt,

sitsonamulticoloredchairthat

resemblesmorethatofaracecar

thananofficeseat.Infrontofhim,

sixmassivemonitorstoweratop

hisdesk,eachblaringamyriadof

graphs,diagramsandcharts.Heis

atthecentreofanopen-spaceof-

ficewhereeverytableresembleshis

own,furnishedwithcountlesscom-

puterscreens,whitewritingboards

andgamingchairs.Thelargeroom

isfilledwiththesoundsofagitated

fingersclickingonkeyboardsand

hurriedvoicesansweringmuffled

phonecalls.ItisMondaymorning,

onthe37thfloorofatallHongKong

buildingoverlookingthecity’sbayin

theofficesofSam’scompany:FTX.

Theotherofficeonthisflooris

acrosstheelevatorhallandbelongs

toalargeconsultingmultinational

whereformallydressedmenhold-

ingformalbriefcasesgiveformal

handshakestooneanother.Instark

contrasttotheirfloorneighborsin

suitsandties,thedresscodeatFTX

promotest-shirts,joggingpants,

andyes,pyjamasareallowed.

Butdon’tbefooledbyappearanc-

es,injustmonthsafteritsfounda-

tioninApril2019,FTXhadalready

transformedintoaleadingcrypto-

currencyderivativesexchangeplat-

formwhosetradevolumehitsthe

billion-dollarmarkonadailybasis.

Shaking up the cryptocurrency

world.

Ifmostpeopleconsidercryptocur-

renciestoberelativelyyoung,with

Bitcoinsfirstappearingin2009,

thenitisfairtoarguethatthe

cryptoderivativesmarketisstill

initsinfancystage.Askanywell-

versedtraderandhewilltellyou

thatcryptoderivativesproducts

haveremainedlimitedinnumber

andmonopolizedbyafewBitcoin

futures.TheincrediblemeritofMr.

Bankman-Fried’scompanyhasbeen

tobreastfeedcryptotrading.Over

thepastyear,FTXhasreleaseda

floodofinnovativeproductstowave

themarketoutofitscomfortzone

andattractmoreretailtradersto

anindustrytraditionallydominated

bybigbucks.

ItcreatedALT,theworld’sfirst

liquidcryptocurrencyindexfuture;

aswellasSHIT,acompellingly

namedindexonlow-cap,‘crappy’

coins(punintended).Butitsmost

notoriousproducthasperhapsbeen

its‘leveragedtoken.’“Backedon

theEthereumblockchain,theseTo-

kensrepresentaleverageposition

fromFTXfutures,”explainsSam

Bankman-Fried.“Astheyarelisted

onotherexchanges,theyareusable

acrosstheboardandcanbesold

withoutdealingwithcollateral.”

“Now,retailtraderscantake

positionswithoutpassingbyrisky

marginandfuturesexchanges,”he

adds.

Sohowisitthatafew-month

oldcompanythatdoesn’trelyon

outsidecapitalwasabletoinno-

vatewherelarger,better-funded

enterprisesdidnot?“Iflipthe

questiononitshead”answersthe

curly-hairedCEO,“welookedat

otherexchangesandwondered:

whatthehellaretheydoing?Why

aretheyjuststandingstill?”FTX:

1-Competition:0.

Cryptos love Trump

Tofurtherdemocratizecrypto

trading,Samhasaninteresting

plan:tappingintopeople’sopin-

ions.“Ifyouaskpeople:what

areyouinterestedinexpressing

anopiniononwithyourmoney,

thenextUSPresidentisgonna

betowardsthetopofthatlist,”

heargues.FTX’s2020USPresi-

dentialElectionisauniqueand,

quitefrankly,amusingfutures

thatallowspeopletotradeon

theoutcomeofthePresidential

race.“Wemadethisproductas

straightforwardaspossible”ex-

plainsSam.Traderscanchoose

fromsixcontracts,eachbelonging

toacandidate,whichexpireto$1

ifhe/shewinstheelections,and

$0otherwise.“Thepriceofeach

TRUMPCONTRACTisequalto

theprobabilitythathewinsreelec-

tion.Soifyouthinkthere’sa52%

chanceofTrumpwinning,then

TRUMPshouldtradeat$0.52;

buyingbelowtherewouldbegood,

aswouldsellingabove.”Favorite

ofthebookies,Trumpiscurrently

tradingat$0.625,withBernie

SandersandJoeBidentrailingat

$0.25and$0.065respectively.

Timetobuy?

We only have what we give

Whenyouareattheheadofan

empirereinventingcrypto-trading,

peoplecertainlydon’timaginethat

yousleeponyourofficefloor.“What

motivatesmetoworkdayandnight

istheambitiontohaveapositiveim-

pactontheworld,”heclaims.Since

itsfoundation,FTXhasdonated

over$7milliontocharity;nottoo

shabbyforacompanythathasyet

tocelebrateitsfirstanniversary.“If

yourgoalistobuycars,thenyour

fifthcarreallyisn’tasvaluableas

yourfirstone.Butifyourgoalis

donating,thenthefifthmalaria

vaccineisasgoodasthefirst,”

concludesSam.

ItisMondaynight,onthe37th

floorofatallHongKongbuilding

overlookingthecity’sbay,andinthe

officesofFTX,SamBankman-Fried

throwshismattressonthefloor,

andfallsasleep.

“Ourgoalistobuild

thebestproductinthe

fastesttimepossible,

andanythingwhich

getsinthewayof

thatobjectivemustbe

swiftlyremoved”

Sam Bankman-Fried,

CEO of FTX

The offices of FTX

Inlessthanayear,SamBankman-Fried’sFTXimposeditselfasoneoftheleadingcryptocurrencyderivatives

exchangeplatformsintheworld.Todoso,thecompanycashedinonaseriesofdisruptiveproductsrangingfrom

‘leveragedtokens’tofuturesonthe2020USPresidentialElection.

CryptoFutures,Trump2020andMalariaVaccines:

TheFascinatingBusinessofFTX

FTX - Trading portal

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